Updated: December 19, 2020 11:35:39 am
Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sonia Gandhi and Kapil Sibal. (Express file photo)
Sonia Gandhi is holding a meeting on Saturday of some of the 23 senior leaders of Congress who I wrote to him four months ago seeking radical changes in the party organization and an effective, full-time leadership.
Ashok Gehlot, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, BS Hooda, Ambika Soni and P Chidambaram arrived at Gandhi’s residence at 10 a.m., Janpath, this morning, the ANI news agency reported. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is also expected to be part of the meeting.
The meeting, which will be the first attempt at rapprochement from both sides, was organized after 7-8 key leaders out of 23 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. The Indian Express.
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. “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 the eve of the crucial meeting between the president of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, and a group of leaders who had been demanding reforms in the party, Congress said on Friday that 99.99 percent of leaders and workers believe that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the party.
Stating that the next party chairman will be elected by the electoral college made up of AICC members, the head of the congressional communication department, Randeep Surjewala, told an AICC press meeting: “It is my belief and the belief out of the overwhelming majority, 99.99 percent of Congressional leaders and workers that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the Congress party and take on the Modi government. “
“Yes, the election of the president of Congress will be carried out according to the electoral college… but we certainly feel and many people like me believe that Rahul Gandhi should lead the Congress party from the front. The last call will be yours, ”he said.
As for the meeting on Saturday, he said there is no dissent in the party. “This is not a meeting of any specific group of leaders. This is not a meeting of dissidents or rebels because we consider each leader, each worker of the Congress party as part of the family. And addressing the issues raised by some of the top leaders, friends and colleagues, the Congress party had already decided to hold the election for the post of president of Congress. That process is currently underway. “
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.
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