All is not well in Congress:G-23 demands internal reforms

All is not well in Congress. A group of senior leaders met in New Delhi on Wednesday night ove a deinner meetng and demanded internal reforms. The meeting of the G-23 leaders saw the attendance of five former chief ministers, and at least eight former Union ministers, among others. It is said that about 18 Congress leaders -- a mix of G-23 dissidents and some 'newcomers' -- spoke in favour of a "collective, inclusive leadership" after a meeting at the house of senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Among the attendees, who between them covered six states, were Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan,  Shashi Tharoor also attended the meeting. There were also 'newcomers' Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Shankar Singh Vaghela and Manishankar Aiyer. This is the first meeting of G23 leaders since the Congress party faced a drubbing in assembly elections in five states. A statement issued by the leaders after the meeting read, "We the following members of the Congress Party met to deliberate on the demoralising outcome of the recent results of the Assembly elections and constant exodus of both our workers and leaders. We believe that the only way forward is for the Congress to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels. "In order to oppose the BJP it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party. We demand the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other likeminded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024. The next steps will be announced soon."

The statement was signed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Sandeep Dixit, PJ Kurien, Kuldeep Sharma, Vivek Tankha, MA Khan, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Raj Babbar and Prithviraj Chavan. The sweeping organisational changes that the G-23 had demanded two years ago are yet to materialise.