Ghulam Nabi Azad takes 'G23' Congress delegation to Jammu; making point to Sonia Gandhi?

Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad will arrive in Jammu for a three-day visit and will be a part of several public meetings. However, along with the former Jammu and Kashmir CM, several party leaders who were also a part of the 'G23' (which opposed Sonia Gandhi's continued Presidentship of the Congress) will visit the Union Territory. According to sources, Ghulam Nabi Azad invited them to Jammu to chalk out the future course of action.

G23 leaders to arrive in Jammu

This development comes after senior Congress leaders who are demanding the revamp in the party and have shown their dissent over the functioning of the party through letter were unhappy after Rahul Gandhi's statement which he gave in Kerala on Tuesday following which the BJP and Central Ministers took a jibe on Congress Party. Along with Ghulam Nabi Azad, the following leaders are coming to Jammu.

1.    Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Former CM Haryana
2.    Kapil Sibal, MP, Rajya Sabha
3.    Anand Sharma, MP, Rajya Sabha
4.    Manish Tiwari, MP, Lok Sabha
5.    Akhilesh Prasad Singh, MP, Rajya Sabha
6.    Vivek Tankha, MP, Rajya Sabha

Sources also said that the visit of these leaders is also seen in the sense that Azad is trying to show Congress his strength in Jammu and Kashmir. Most of these leaders have been sidelined in the party by the Gandhi-Vadra family followers and this can be seen as none of them are involved in preparing for Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Puducherry and Assam.

Earlier this week, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Ghulam Nabi Azad at his residence following Rahul Gandhi's North-South' remark. According to ANI sources, the leaders of the dissident group disagreed with Rahul Gandhi's statement. These leaders are of the opinion that Rahul Gandhi himself should clarify so that confusion does not spread and BJP cannot take political advantage of it.

Rahul Gandhi's 'North-South' comment

"For the first 15 yrs, I was an MP in the north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues," Rahul Gandhi had said on Tuesday in Trivandrum.

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"I was talking to some students in the US and I said that I really enjoy going to Kerala. It's not just affection but the way you do your politics. If I might say so, the intelligence with which you do your politics. So, for me, it's been a learning experience and pleasure," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, GM Saroori, former Congress Minister evaded Republic Media Network's questions on the visit of G23 leaders. He also made it clear that Ghulam Nabi Azad is not leaving Congress. "Changes for which the leaders wrote the letters will take place slowly and Congress is getting stronger day by day," he said. Ghulam Nabi Azad's term in the Rajya Sabha ended in the Budget session.

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