A meeting of a group of rebel Congress leaders, known as G-23, is underway at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence. The leaders present at the meeting are Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Hooda, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Prithviraj Chavan, PJ Kurien, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Kuldeep Sharma and Raj Babbar.
According to NDTV, the meeting was supposed to be held at Kapil Sibal's residence, but the venue was changed following his demand that the "Gandhis should step aside from the leadership role and give a chance to someone else to lead the party". The report said many leaders were "uncomfortable" to meet at Sibal's residence due to this.
The meeting and Sibal's open attack against the Gandhis comes after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, where the party reposed its faith on Sonia Gandhi and asked her to make necessary and comprehensive changes in the organisation following humiliating losses in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge today alleged that the G-23 leaders were attempting to break the party by continuing to hold meetings even after the CWC had discussed 'all' issues during its recent meeting.
He said no one can weaken party president Sonia Gandhi as the entire Congress, "from the streets to the national capital", is with her.
"Let them do 100 meetings. No one can weaken Sonia Gandhi ji. The Congress party is with her from the streets to Delhi. These people will continue to meet and give speeches," he said.
"Sonia Gandhi is taking all steps that have been discussed at the CWC. If they (G-23 leaders) still speak like this, it means they are trying to break the party," Kharge further said.
