DNA Explainer: All about 'G-23' leaders who are posing direct challenge to Gandhi family
Union minister Salman Khurshid asked 'Group of 23' leaders through an 'open letter' if they were changing their goalposts.
Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory, Congress is fighting a separate battle - an internal feud in the party that took a new twist as former Union minister Salman Khurshid wrote an 'open letter' to the 'G-23' leaders and asked a few pertaining questions.
Union minister Salman Khurshid asked 'Group of 23' leaders through an 'open letter' if they were changing their goalposts and whether it was fair on their part to kick the ladder that they climbed to reach the top storey of life.
Khurshid's remarks came after the G-23 leaders, led by veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, recently displayed their anger in Jammu. He asked them to worry about how they would be judged in history than to seek a better place in the present.
Noting that sacrifice cannot come with pre-conditions of success, Khurshid said that Congress leaders must show the ordinary party workers across the country the path out of the present darkness towards sunshine instead of raising concerns about what they received.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi said that he was criticised by his own party leaders after he pushed for Youth Congress and NSUI elections. Responding to a question about Congress' internal democracy, Gandhi, who was attending a webinar organised by US University Cornell through video conference, said he was the 'first-person' to say that democratic election within the party is absolutely critical.
So who are the G23 leaders of the Congress party? Here we mention a few prominent faces of the 23 signatories of a letter sent to party interim President Sonia Gandhi in August seeking reforms.
Former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, Lok Sabha MP Sandeep Dikshit, Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh Ajay Singh, and former Union minister M Veerappa Moily voiced their reservations against certain actions, including former MP Ghulam Nabi Azad’s praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Moily said that this was not the appropriate time to discuss matters pertaining to the party as elections were to be held in multiple states. Moily also said that he was not invited to the Jammu meeting and that he did not want to be part of 'any dissident groups'.
(Image Source: Twitter/@moilyv.jpg)
A section of G 23 Congress leaders held a meeting in Jammu last week. Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union ministers Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma, Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha, Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari, and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda attended the meeting on February 27. At the meeting, Kapil Sibal said that the Congress was 'getting weak' and criticized the party's decision to allow Azad to retire from the Parliament. On the very next day, Azad praised PM Modi, claiming that he never hides his true self from others.
(Image Source: Twitter/@KapilSibal)
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that it was best to ask Ghulam Nabi Azad about his comments on Modi. "I have not been in touch with them," he said, However, he expressed displeasure with the meeting that took place in Jammu last week.
(Image Source: ANI)
Interestingly, the entire composition of G-23 leaders of Congress has remained in a realm of mystery. Some say the group is much bigger while another school of thought views those present at Jammu as a ginger group among the dissenters. At Jammu, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, and Manish Tiwari were the prominent faces of G-23.
(Image Source: ANI)
A part of G-23 leaders, Anand Sharma said that they believe in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and have never said a word against the party leadership. However, he reiterated the fact that they have their concerns from the last two general elections and it's a fact. He added that they want to strengthen the party and they are a united Congress. "We don't want anything that can weaken the party," he said.
(Image Source: Twitter/@AnandSharmaINC)
In August, at least 23 Congress leaders, including Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Prithviraj Chavan, and Milind Deora, had written to Sonia Gandhi, asking for a complete revamp of the party’s organization. Tharoor had also called for holding elections to appoint the party chief. He had, however, maintained that the elections should be held if Rahul Gandhi does not wish to take over as the party president.
(Image Source: Twitter/@ShashiTharoor)
In December, Sonia Gandhi had met the dissenters in a bid to address the crisis plaguing the party. Last month, it was decided that a new Congress chief would be elected in June.
(Image Source: Twitter/@Manikrao_INC)
On January 22, Congress had announced that it will have a newly elected president by June. The announcement was made by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal after a meeting of the party’s working committee.
(Image Source: Twitter/@ians_india)