Only way forward for Congress to adopt model of collective, inclusive leadership: 'G-23' leaders
New Delhi, Mar 16: The leaders of the Congress's "Group of 23" on Wednesday said the only way forward for the grand old party is to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.
In a statement, they also urged the Congress leadership to initiate talks with like-minded forces to create a way for a credible alternative in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The G-23 leaders met at the residence of former Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad over dinner on Wednesday to work out the grouping's future strategy and discuss the Congress's debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls in five states.
Sources said the grouping had earlier planned a dinner at Kapil Sibal's residence, but it was changed at the last minute.
Among the leaders who attended the meeting were Sibal, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Sandeep Dikshit.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurian and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma joined the dinner meeting.
The grouping had given an open invite to other Congressmen to join them at the dinner meeting.
The sources said the meeting was convened to apprise all the G-23 members of the decisions taken at the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet on Sunday.
Two prominent G-23 members -- Azad and Sharma -- were to apprise the other members of the developments at the CWC meeting and what they said on strengthening the party in the wake of its drubbing in the Assembly polls, they said.
The performance of the Congress in these states was poor as it failed to win any of the four BJP-ruled states -- Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur -- while it lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The G-23 grouping has been critical of the Congress leadership. It has been demanding an organisational overhaul, after they wrote a joint letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in 2020.
The sources said invitations were also extended to the Congressmen who do not constitute the bloc but feel that changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive the party's electoral fortunes.
The decision to convene a meeting of the G-23 came a day after Gandhi sought the resignation of the Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.
Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the leadership had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party, provoking a backlash from the Gandhi family loyalists, who accused him of speaking the language of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The G-23 has, however, got weakened over time with senior leader M Veerappa Moily distancing himself from the group, Jitin Prasada joining the BJP and Mukul Wasnik not attending its meetings in recent times.
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Chhattisgarh: Couple, two grandchildren killed over 'property' dispute; two relatives held
Janjgir (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): An elderly couple and their two grandchildren were allegedly murdered by two close relatives to grab family property in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, police said on Thursday.
The couple’s one son, who had earlier spent 15 years in jail for killing his own brother, and his son have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, an official said.
The bodies were found inside their under-construction house in Bhanvtara village under the jurisdiction of the Shivrinarayan police station after labourers reached the site for work in the morning, a senior police official said.
The deceased were identified as Medani Prasad Kashyap (70), his wife Kanti Bai (65), their grandchildren Pitambar Kashyap (17) and Mogra (25).
The deceased couple’s son, Sonsai, and his son Dakeshwar have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, the official said.
According to the preliminary investigation, Medani Prasad had three sons, including Sonsai. Police said Sonsai had murdered one of his brothers in the past and had served a 15-year jail term in the case, while the couple’s third son had reportedly died by suicide.
Sonsai and his son Dakeshwar, alias Golu, allegedly killed his parents and the children of his two deceased brothers with an axe while they were asleep in the under-construction house, he said.
Pitambar was the only son of one deceased brother, while Mogra was the only daughter of another, the official said.
The accused allegedly wanted sole ownership of the family property and are suspected of having committed the crime to eliminate other claimants, police said.
A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway, the official added.
