Rahul Gandhi meets Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda after the G-23 meeting

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday, a day after the crucial meeting of G-23 leaders, and is said to have discussed revamping the party and the way forward following its loss in five Assembly elections.

G-23 is a group of dissenting Congress leaders who have called for a restructuring of the organisation. Following the meeting, Hooda, the former Haryana chief minister, paid a visit to Ghulam Nabi Azad, a member of the G-23, at his home. According to reports, Hooda and Azad discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision-making, as demanded by the grouping, which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement. Hooda was joined in the deliberations at Azad’s residence by Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha and another G-23 leader Anand Sharma, according to sources.

“The only way forward for the Congress is to adopt a model of inclusive and collective leadership and decision-making at all levels,” the grouping said yesterday. According to G-23 sources, they want to strengthen Congress rather than “undermine it in any way.”

In the context of the G23 statement and the telephonic conversation Azad had with Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday to convey the intentions of the meeting at his residence, Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Hooda is significant. Azad is expected to meet Sonia Gandhi with proposals soon, according to sources, and discussions on course correction within the party are underway.

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