G-23 leaders recommend forging alliance with 'likeminded forces' to beat BJP in 2024

"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," the G-23 leaders said in the joint statement.

New Delhi: Major leaders of the Congress's 'Group of 23' or G-23 met at the residence of former Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad over dinner on Wednesday to work out the future strategy and discuss the party's poll debacle in the just-concluded assembly polls.

The G23 leaders, in a statement issued after the meeting, said that they had met to deliberate on the "demoralising" outcome of the recent results of the Assembly elections and the "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," the leaders said in the joint statement. "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," they said.

The next steps in this regard will be announced soon, the G23 leaders added.

The signatories on the statement included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Shashi Tharoor, M.A. Khan, Sandeep Dixit, Vivek Tankha, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Manishankar Aiyer, P J Kurian, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, Kuldeep Sharma, and Preneet Kaur.

The grouping had given an open invite to other Congressmen to join them at the dinner meeting.

The Congress performance in these states was poor as it failed to win back any of the four BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, while it lost Punjab to the AAP. The G-23 grouping has been critical of the party leadership and has been demanding organisational overhaul, after they wrote a joint letter to Sonia Gandhi in 2020.

The sources said invitations were also extended to the Congressmen who don't constitute the bloc but feel changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive its electoral fortunes. The decision to convene a meeting of the G-23 came came a day after Sonia Gandhi sought the resignation of Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa following the party's dismal performance there.

Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the leadership had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party, provoking a backlash from Gandhi family loyalists who accused him of speaking the language of the BJP and the RSS.