Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi | Stock Photo | Photo credit: PTI
Key points
- Congress “dissidents” were not convinced even after meeting Sonia Gandhi; establish certain conditions
- Sonia Gandhi met with G-23 ‘rebels’ at her residence on Saturday as Congress discusses reconciliation
New Delhi: Congressional dissidents who had written to Sonia Gandhi a few months ago seeking a complete reform of the organization are not convinced even after meeting with her. They have now set certain conditions, sources said Monday.
The meeting, attended by all 19 Congress leaders and chaired by Sonia Gandhi at her residence, was seen as a much-needed step for the Congress party. All party leaders thanked the President of Congress for convening this particular meeting, reports Samia of Times Now.
Six leaders: Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Prithviraj Chavan and Vivek Tankha, of the 23 dissident leaders, were present at the meeting.
“The narrative that is being woven after the meeting is that Rahul Gandhi has agreed to return as head of Congress and is ready to accept leadership or whatever responsibility the leaders of the Congress party deem convenient for him.
However, the question of Rahul Gandhi heading the Congress party was not raised during the meeting with the dissidents. They said they will accept the new chief only if due process is followed in electing the party president. They also made it clear that they will not support if the Gandhis position a representative, “reports Samia.
The Janpath 10 Meeting
The meeting also included some of Sonia Gandhi’s close associates and is the first effort by the Congress leadership to rebuke those who raised questions about the leadership.
This was also the first physical meeting since the ‘group of 23’ had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August this year seeking a senior leadership review. The meeting proceeded on a very cordial note despite the participation of the ‘rebels’. Several senior leaders suggested new measures to strengthen the party, in addition to those spoken by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
“Nobody has a problem with Rahul Gandhi, and this is not just for today. They all said we need the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. We must not fall into the trap of other people who are trying to distract from the party’s agenda, ”Congress leader Pawan Bansal said after the meeting.
