Updated: December 18, 2020 8:03:41 am
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is expected to be part of the meeting.
Sonia Gandhi will meet on Saturday with some of the 23 top leaders who had written to him in August seeking radical changes in the organization of Congress and effective, full-time leadership that is “visible” and “active.” This will be the first attempt at rapprochement by both sides.
The meeting was organized after seven or eight key leaders out of 23 letter writers met several times in Delhi over the past week. A list of possible attendees was sent to Sonia, of which a select group will know her, sources said.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is expected to be part of the meeting.
Among those who were able to attend the meeting with Sonia were Rajya Sabha opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former union ministers Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor; and former Haryana and Maharashtra chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan, the sources said.
Senior Leaders Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, AK Antony and AICC Secretary General (Organization) KC Venugopal are also expected to be present.
It has been learned that the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, is coordinating the meeting. Nath has met Sonia twice after she returned from Goa after a fifteen day break earlier this month.
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“The most important leaders of Congress will attend the meeting to resolve organizational issues and find the way forward,” said a leader of Congress.
On August 23, the Indian Express had reported on the unprecedented letter written by 23 top leaders, including five former senior ministers, many members of the Congressional Work Committee (CWC), sitting MPs and several former union ministers.
But at its meeting two days later, the CWC did not discuss the content of the letter or make specific commitments on the way forward. Instead, member after member attacked the 23 rebels, questioned and criticized the intent and timing of their letter, and pledged allegiance to the Gandhi family.
In addition to calling for far-reaching reforms, decentralization of power, empowerment of state units, elections for the organization of Congress at all levels, from the bloc to the CWC, and the urgent constitution of a central parliamentary board, the leaders had argued that the uncertainty about the leadership and the “drift” in the party had demoralized the workers and weakened Congress.
Since August, Congress has suffered further setbacks in elections, including in Bihar, where its dismal performance perhaps kept the grand alliance out of the way, Kerala, Hyderabad and Assam. Sources in the group of 23 claimed that various leaders across the country have backed their arguments.
Congress plans to hold elections for the party’s president in the coming months. While it is unclear whether Rahul has agreed to return to the helm, the 23 leaders had demanded that an “institutional leadership mechanism” be urgently established that would “collectively” guide the party’s resurgence. The sources said that the CWC could also meet soon.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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