Prominent Congress leaders, including former Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Chief Ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Shankar Singh Vaghela, and many more 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.
Sources said the feelings of the Wednesday meeting is likely to be conveyed by Azad to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are also expected to be present at the meeting.
The meeting between Azad and Gandhis would be of great importance amid the dissatisfaction of G-23 leaders about the work style of senior Congress leaders, especially the Gandhis.
Sources said Azad will present the final proposal of G-23 members before the party's high command. The G-23 will decide its future course of action after the meeting between Azad and Sonia Gandhi.
Late Wednesday night after a marathon four hours meeting, the dissident leaders issued a joint statement saying, "We believe that the only way forward is for the Congress to adopt the model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels. In order to oppose the BJP, it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party.
We urge the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces to create a platform to pave the way for credible alternatives for 2024."
The meeting was earlier scheduled over dinner at Sibal's residence but later Azad hosted it at his place because of Sibal's strong criticism of the Gandhis and his advice to them to make way for other leaders.
Sources said the venue was also changed because in the last meeting of the dissidents held at Sibal's residence, some Congressmen resorted to stone-pelting.
Besides the G-23 leaders, others like Mani Shankar Aiyar, PJ Kurein joined the meeting to work out a future strategy and dissect what went wrong leading to the grand old party's poll debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls.
Others present were Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor and Sandeep Dikshit, Preneet Kaur (Lok Sabha member from Patiala and wife of sacked Congress leader and former Chief Minister Amardiner Singh), and former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma.
Sources said the meeting was convened to apprise all the members of the G-23 about the decisions taken at the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting led by interim chief Sonia on Sunday.
Azad and Sharma apprised the other members of the developments at the CWC and the feelings they shared at the CWC platform on strengthening the party. The G-23 grouping has been critical of the party leadership and has been demanding organisational overhaul after they wrote a joint letter to Sonia in 2020.
Sources said invitations were also extended to the Congress leaders who don't constitute the bloc but feel changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive its electoral fortunes.
The meeting comes a day after Congress chief Sonia sought the resignation of Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa following the party's dismal performance there.
Sonia on Wednesday appointed Jitendra Singh to assess the post-poll situation of Uttar Pradesh and to suggest organisational changes, while Ajay Maken got a similar assignment for Punjab.
Senior party leaders Jairam Ramesh and Rajani Patil will play the same role for Manipur and Goa, respectively, while Avinash Pandey will assess the post-poll situation in Uttarakhand.
Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the leadership, had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to revive the party, provoking a backlash from Gandhi family loyalists who accused him of speaking the language of the BJP and the RSS.
Sibal continued to face the ire of senior party colleagues ever since he made the remarks against the Gandhis and a few leaders sought immediate sacking of the former Union Minister. Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the G-23 leaders were attempting to break the party by continuing to hold meetings even after the CWC had discussed 'all' issues during its recent meeting.
"Let them do 100 meetings. No one can weaken Sonia. The Congress party is with her from the streets to Delhi. These people will continue to meet and give speeches. Sonia is taking all steps that have been discussed at the CWC. If they (G-23 leaders) still speak like this, it means they are trying to break the party," Kharge further said.
Another party leader Salman Khurshid too hit back at his party colleague for criticising the Gandhi family's leadership. Saying it was a "bit sad" to complain after receiving so much from the organisation.
Meanwhile, Congress' Chandni Chowk district unit passed a resolution on Wednesday requesting party chief Sonia to take disciplinary action against senior leader Sibal for alleged anti-party activities. Sibal is a former Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk constituency.