Sonia convenes meeting of senior leaders on Dec. 19

First gathering at her residence since the lockdown in March

Congress president Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of senior leaders including some members from

group of 23 (G-23) dissenters at her residence on December 19 to discuss the upcoming Assembly elections, ongoing farmers’ agitation and the government skipping the winter session of Parliament, a senior leader of the party said on Thursday.

This will be the first time that party leaders will meet the Congress president in person at the 10 Janpath residence since the lockdown. All meetings were so far conducted virtually ever since COVID-19 restrictions came in at the end of March.

The senior leader said the meeting could stretch to Sunday as the top leadership would brainstorm on a range of issues, including a revival plan for the party.

In August, G-23 leaders had written to Ms. Gandhi, pitching for a “full-time and active leadership”, organisational revamp and elected members to the Congress Working Committee.

Among the dissenters, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Leader Anand Sharma, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor are likely to be part of the strategy meeting.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath are also among the invitees.

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry are scheduled in April-May next year and the Congress leaders would be discussing about forging alliances in these key States.

Earlier, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had held discussions with leaders of these States and had given a report to Ms. Gandhi.

Ms. Gandhi is likely to discuss the party’s debacle in the Bihar Assembly polls, setbacks in the by-polls to 58 seats across several States, the performance in the local bodies’ elections in Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Kerala and the council elections in Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam.

Key issues

The Congress chief will also discuss the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the Centre’s decision not to hold the winter session of Parliament.

The timing of the meeting is significant as it comes amidst a churn in the party over the leadership issue.

Following the letter by the G-23, the party’s central election authority is gearing up to hold organisational polls, including election for a party president by the first week of February.

One section of the party is keen that Rahul Gandhi takes back the reins of the party for it to function unitedly.

“Soniaji wants to bring the different factions together and make them work in close coordination with Rahulji to strengthen the party,” the senior leader said.