Sonia Gandhi Meets Congress Dissenters, Party To Hold 'Chintan Shivir' To End Leadership Crisis

The meeting comes after, the grand old party miserably failed to appease the voters in Bihar and was accused of having the “five-star culture” by senior member Ghulam Nabi Azad recently.

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday flagged off the series of meetings, that will be held for the next 10 days with the section of senior leaders who had written to her in the last four months demanding a structural overhaul in the grand old party and effective and full-time leadership. The five-hour meeting, which also included some of Sonia Gandhi's close associates, was significant as it was the first effort by the Congress leadership for a rapprochement with the 'letter-writers' who had raised questions over the leadership. The meeting comes after the grand old party miserably failed to appease the voters in Bihar and was accused of having the “five-star culture” by senior member Guhlam Nabi Azad recently. Downplaying the crisis, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that 99.9 per cent leaders in Congress want Rahul Gandhi to lead the party again. Here are the 5 developments of the Sonia Gandhi's meeting with few dissenters: 1. After Sonia Gandhi met the rebel leaders, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan told the media that this was the first time 30 senior Congress leaders met for the first time and deliberated on the path ahead for the party in a "constructive" atmosphere. He also said that more such meetings will be held to strengthen the party. 2. Chavan also said that a “Chintan Shivir” (Brainstorming session) will be organised in Panchmarhi or Shimla. 3. The meeting which is also being dubbed as G-23, was attended by Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. 4. AK Antony, Ashok Gehlot, and Ambika Soni are among the loyalists attending the meeting. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Vivek Tankha, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda are among the dissenters at the meet. Congress veteran P Chidambaram is also present. 5. The five-hour meeting, which also included some of Sonia Gandhi's close associates, was significant as it was the first effort by the Congress leadership for a rapprochement with the 'letter-writers' who had raised questions over the leadership. Those attending the meeting from among the letter-writers were Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, deputy leader of the party in the upper House Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan, and MPs Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha and Shashi Tharoor. The Congress has already decided to hold elections for the post of Congress president and that process is underway. This followed a stormy Congress Working Committee meeting in August after the letter's contents became public.