G23 leaders intend to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi this weekend

As per the G23 leader, they will continue to press for inclusive and collective leadership at all levels of Congress. 

Number of leaders from 'G23' or the Congress 'rebels' might meet the Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, earlier Gulam Nabi Azad's exclusive meet Sonia Gandhi. They also wish to meet Rahul Gandhi after former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda met him. 

The meeting is expected to happen over the weekend between the G23 and Congress president. The G23 and Congress leadership are keen to engage, and Sonia and Rahul had called Azad and Hooda, respectively. 

As per the G23 leader, they will continue to press for inclusive and collective leadership at all levels of the Congress; in Wednesday's meeting, a request was raised. They also requested the party leadership to talk to like-minded groups. 

On Friday, former G23 leader Veerappa Moily hit out at the rebel group and stated that just because they are out of power doesn't mean the Congress leaders or workers should not panic. He added the BJP and others are the transit passengers; they will come and go. Congress is here to stay, and they should be committed to the oppressed and not lose hope.

He further added that Sonia Gandhi wished for reforms in the Congress party; however, people around her have sabotaged it. He claimed that the G23 leader is targetting the senior leaders and weakening the Congress party. The BJP cannot be a perennial party, and it will not stand the turmoil of politics after Modi. 

In a meeting at Azad's place, one amongst the G23 leaders later stated that the five former chief ministers and at least 8-10 union ministers have all met. They are adding up now. Everyone in the G23 wishes to strengthen the party; however, no one wants to listen. 

Adding to this, another leader said that Punjab's situation was discussed during the meet, and many leaders paid little heed to the recent announcements of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He stated that Punjab MPs mentioned how desperate it was during the polls. One of the Punjab leaders mentioned that they tried to warn Sonia Gandhi about the appointment of Sidhu, but she refused to see them.

One Punjab leader stated that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress chief without consultations. It's like the children are pushing us away, he added.

The G23 leaders were dismissive of the announcement to appoint senior leaders to make recommendations for organisational reforms, pointing out that some were involved in the poll and blamed the debacle. 

One G23 leader said that even the setup committees to handle post polls includes the same names like Jairam Ramesh, Avinash Pandey, Ajay Maken, and Jitendra Singh."