G23 expands: Congress dissenters suggest party to adopt model of collective leadership

The Congress' G23 leaders on Wednesday said that the only way forward for the party is to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.

New Delhi: Failing out to Congress party's expectations, its dissenters got stronger as the 'G23' expanded, on Wednesday. The G23 leaders held a meeting at senior Congress leader and former leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence to discuss the party's debacle in the recently held Assembly elections.

Interestingly, apart from the 'G23' leaders, some others party dissenters also took part in this meeting, who include Manishankar Aiyar and Preneet Kaur. While the meeting lasted for almost four hours, no leader spoke to the media regarding the outcome of this meeting. However, a statement was released by the group of Congress dissenters suggesting the party adopt a model of collective leadership for the preparation of the 2024 General elections.

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The statement 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."

It further asserted, "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 signatories of this statement are 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.

This meeting comes after Congress leader and G23 member Kapil Sibal made a controversial remark stating that Gandhi's should step back from the leadership of the party. "Leadership is in cuckoo land...I want a 'Sab ki Congress'. Some want a 'Ghar ki Congress'," Sibal had said in an interview recently.

However, the G23 made it clear that this is not their final take on the current political situation as they mentioned in their statement that the "next steps in this regard" will be announced soon.

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