Sonia Gandhi meets G23 leaders, says no changes in Cong until president poll is held

Amid rising demands from G-23 leaders for organisational changes in the party, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has now told leaders that no change will be made until the election for the party's president post is held. It is learnt that the party chief has told leaders from the dissident faction that no major changes could be possible until the polls that will be held in August-September this year. The information was handed out after Sonia Gandhi met with leaders from the faction.

Congress interim president on Tuesday held a meeting with G-23 leaders Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Vivek Tankha at her residence in New Delhi. The meeting was held in an attempt to resolve the deepening rift within the party, which began after Congress crashed out in all five states in the recently concluded Assembly elections. As per ANI sources, the party leadership discussed the situation to resolve the leaders’ dissatisfaction with the top brass.

According to sources, Congress leaders raised concern over a lack of collective leadership in the decision-making process in the party during the meeting. Following this, the party chief is said to have told the G-23 leaders that no changes would be made until the elections for the party president post.

"By August-September, the election for party's president will be over. Focus on that. I can make changes only to a certain extent by then," the ANI sources quoted Sonia Gandhi as saying.

It is noteworthy that neither the leadership nor the G-23 leaders mentioned Kapil Sibal, who recently questioned the party's top brass and their functioning. The G-23 members have been raising their voices against a few leaders in the party making decisions alone. The three Congress leaders who met Sonia Gandhi is said to have informed her that they are accused of the poll results when they were not the ones making party decisions.

Infighting in Congress

The rift in Congress came to the fore once again after the party's massive defeat in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. Speaking exclusively to Indian Express on March 15, Kapil Sibal opined that the Gandhis should step aside from their leadership roles. 

Alleging that the party leadership is living in "cuckoo land", he made his preference clear for a 'Ghar ki Congress' over 'Sab ki Congress'. On this occasion, he also questioned the rationale behind formally elevating Rahul Gandhi as the Congress chief, citing that he is the de-facto president already. 

While there was anticipation that Congress might advance its organizational elections, the CWC meet on March 13 turned out to be a damp squib as the party reaffirmed its faith in the leadership of interim president Sonia Gandhi and asked her to lead from the front. 

In a show of strength on Wednesday evening, 18 leaders participated in the G23 meeting at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence in Delhi. In a statement released after the meeting, G23 called upon the party to adopt a "collective and leadership" while refraining from explicitly criticising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

(With ANI inputs)

Image: PTI