New Delhi, March 18: A day after senior leaders of Congress met and demanded inclusive leadership in the party, senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Rahul Gandhi, raised the issues discussed by the party leaders who met on Wednesday night.
Hooda, who was among the leaders who was present at the meeting held at Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence, also met Azad and Anand Sharma after meeting Rahul Gandhi.
The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by Manish Tewari, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Sandeep Dixit, Vivek Tankha, MA Khan, Prithviraj Chavan, Raj Babbar, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Shashi Tharoor, Mani Shankar Aiyer, PJ Kurien, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, Kuldeep Sharma and Preneet Kaur.
The leaders in a statement after they meet said they have deliberated on the “demoralising outcome of the recent polls”, and constant exodus of party leaders and workers. They said the only way forward was to adopt a model of “collective and inclusive leadership” at all levels.
They also said the only way to oppose BJP is to strengthen Congress, and demanded the party to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces. Several senior Congress leaders have time to time raised the demand for organisational reforms in the party, and holding presidential elections.
After the poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab, at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee decided that organisation reforms would be done in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, who is the interim president of the party since Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post. Sibal, who is among the leaders who have been vocal demanding polls in the party, recently said the Gandhis should step aside.
