After Assembly poll fiasco, Sonia Gandhi meets G-23 leader Ghulam Nabi Azad

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and member of G-23 group Ghulam Nabi Azad met party interim president Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Friday.

Earlier, G-23 leaders, who have been calling for sweeping reforms in the grand old party, met on Wednesday to discuss the party’s debacle in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five states – Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Goa. Party leaders Kapil Sibal, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Mani Shankar Aiyar, PJ Kurien, Preneet Kaur, Sandeep Dikshit and Raj Babbar were among those present.

The G-23 group has been a vocal critic of Congress leadership, demanding an organizational overhaul after its members wrote a joint letter to Gandhi in 2020.

Meanwhile, former Haryana Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Rahul Gandhi on Thursday. Hooda, a G 23 leader, was the first to reach out to the Congress High Command after the faction’s meeting at Azad’s residence in New Delhi over the poll drubbing.

According to sources, Rahul Gandhi had asked Hooda about the meeting of the G-23 leaders and their resolution. Hooda suggested elections of the Congress Working Committee and taking future decisions through discussions only in CWC as this was also mentioned by the G-23 group.

The former Haryana chief minister, in the meeting with Rahul Gandhi, also sought the appointment of an experienced person, who understands the politics of North India and is well versed with Hindi, after removing party General Secretary KC Venugopal from his post, sources informed.

The results of five assembly polls came as a shock to the Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.

The party is slated to elect a new party chief later this year at the culmination of organizational elections.