New Delhi: A meeting of senior leaders belonging to a dissident group of the Congress, touted as the G-23, saw more visitors than expected Wednesday.
Some members of the G-23 met at former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence for the second time in a week after the results of assembly elections in five states — in which the Congress suffered a crushing defeat — were declared on 10 March.
Apart from those who were at the previous meeting such as Azad, Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, Wednesday’s gathering was also attended by former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur. Another former Union minister, Kapil Sibal, was also present Wednesday.
The first meeting had taken place at Azad’s home last Saturday, a day before a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.
Thereafter, Sibal had hit out at the Congress high command, asking the Gandhis to step aside as the party leadership. A meeting of the G-23 was supposed to take place at Sibal’s house at 5 pm Wednesday. However, it was shifted to Azad’s house, where the meeting was followed by dinner.
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Shankarsinh Vaghela, Preneet Kaur among attendees
While the entire guest list for the party — which was also attended by non-G-23 members — is not yet known, other leaders who were spotted include former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, UP MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh, former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, former Rajya Sabha deputy speaker P.J Kurien, ex-MPs Sandeep Dikshit and Raj Babbar.
Interestingly, Preneet Kaur — wife of former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh — who was issued a show-cause notice by the Congress for “anti-party activities” last November, was also in attendance.
Former Punjab CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and ex-Gujarat CM Shankarsinh Vaghela, who was expelled from the Congress in 2017, were also spotted.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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