Congress G-23 Meet After Party's Humiliation In Assembly Polls

Senior Indian National Congress (INC) party leaders, who are a part of the Group 23, met at Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence on Friday and raised concerns over the successive defeats of the party in Assembly and Parliamentary elections.

The meeting came after Congress suffered humiliation in the recently held assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

Some of the senior leaders reportedly called for skipping the upcoming Congress Working Committee meeting as Chief Ministers, Youth Congress leaders and presidents of frontal organizations only praise the Gandhi family and nothing serious is discussed, reported ANI quoting sources.

Meanwhile, senior leader Anand Sharma, part of G-23, said that if leaders tried to speak assertively in the extended meeting, several supporters oppose them. Hence, it is necessary that only the CWC people attend the meeting, he added.

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The G-23 leaders are expected to meet again in the next few days.

In October last year, Sonia Gandhi had to step up and reiterate her presidency at a party working committee meeting following criticism from the G-23 who wanted an overhaul in the hierarchy and election for a "visible and effective leadership".

Hitting out at the G-23, group of 23 senior leaders within the party, Mrs. Gandhi said that she appreciated frankness, adding that there was no need to speak to her through the media.

She also called for honest discussions on problems facing the party and warned the G-23 against leaking information to the press.

Notably, senior Congress leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari, Aanand Sharma, PJ Kurien, Renuka Chaudhary, Milind Deora, Mukul Vasnik, Jitin Prasad, Bhupendra Singh Hooda, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, M Veerappa Moily, Prithviraj Chauhan, Ajay Singh, Raj Babbar, Arivnd Singh Lovely, Kaul Singh Thakur, Kuldeep Sharma, Yoganand Shastri, Sandeep Dixit, and Vivek Thakha make up the G-23.

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