Tag: Kapil Sibal

Creating A Pressure Group, Cong Shouldn’t Die: A Taste of What Was on the Menu at ‘G23’ Dinner

The venue for the Wednesday dinner meeting was supposed to be Kapil Sibal’s official residence but was later shifted to Ghulam Nabi Azad’s place. Sources say this was an indication that while the so-called Group of 23 rebels, or G23, was united and wanted to put pressure on the Congress, it didn’t support the demand that the party must move ahead without the Gandhis.

Congress leaders Sandeep Dikshit and Mani Shankar Aiyar leave from the residence of party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad, after the Congress G23 leaders’ dinner meeting, in New Delhi, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (PTI Photo)

At the dinner meeting, the attendants munched over their future plans. The numbers of the group had seemingly swollen with many new faces like Mani Shankar Aiyar, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and Preneet Kaur. It was decided to build a pressure group and attempts will be made to reach out to more disgruntled Congress leaders. A source from the meeting said, “We are confident more will join us as we don’t want the Congress to die. There are few loyalists left now and they don’t have much to offer.”

So what will the pressure group do? It will give suggestions to the Congress top leadership, i.e., the Gandhis, and put pressure for changes in the organisation. “The same people can no longer call the shots,” said the source.

But there was dismay and consternation when news came in of the formation of five committees by the party to look into the recent assembly poll losses and suggest changes. The anger was especially over one name, Ajay Maken.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi had met MPs from Punjab and almost all of them had said that state incharge Harish Chaudhary and Ajay Maken had messed up the game for the Congress also sold tickets. So there was indignation that one of the committee members who would work on the report card for the region that was lost continued to be​ Maken. A source said, “We mentioned him and she still made Maken one of the committee heads. Shows that they don’t care.”

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/politics/creating-a-pressure-group-congress-shouldnt-die-a-taste-of-what-was-on-the-menu-at-the-g23-dinner-4882160.html

G-23 meeting held at Azad’s residence, Congress names leaders to assess poll debacle

As many as 18 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor and Sandeep Dixit.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor arrives to attend a meeting of party leaders held at Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI)

Some senior Congress leaders met at the residence of former Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in the national capital in the wake of the party’s humiliating defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Issuing a joint statement after the meeting, the leaders (18 of them) said, “We demand Congress to initiate dialogue with like-minded forces to create way for credible alternative for 2024 LS polls.”

The letter, written by the ‘Group of 23’ or ‘G-23’ leaders, said the only way forward is for the Congress to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision-making at all levels. They said the meeting of the Congress leaders was held to deliberate on the demoralising results of the Assembly elections and constant exodus of party workers, adding the next steps in this .

The letter was signed by 18 Congress veterans, including Azad, Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Sandeep Dixit, Vivek Tankha and Raj Babbar.

Gandhis should step aside, give some other leader a chance: Kapil Sibal

Slamming the party’s decision to hold a brainstorming session, he said the leadership is living in “cuckoo land” if it is not aware of the reasons for the party’s decline even after eight years.

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