Kharge hails Azad's meeting with Sonia Gandhi, says good efforts to keep Congress together

Kalaburagi (Karnataka) [India], March 19 (ANI): Amid the G23 pushing for collective leadership in Congress in the wake of the poll debacle in five states, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday welcomed Ghulam Nabi Azad's meeting with party's interim president Sonia Gandhi, saying "it's a good sign...to keep the party together".
The G-23 is a group of senior Congress leaders who have been pressing for collective leadership in the party. Azad, who is a key member of G23, met Sonia Gandhi on Friday.
Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, "Ghulam Nabi Azad has been in the party for years. He knows everything. So he talked to signatories there (G23). He met Sonia Gandhi. He has spoken about keeping the party together. It's a good sign. He said that he wants to strengthen the party. It is a welcome stand."
Azad after meeting Sonia Gandhi on Friday evening had said that he shared suggestions and discussed with the members of the G-23 on ways to strengthen the party.
Noting that Congress stands by collectiveness, Kharge said that several people at the CWC meet stressed that Gandhis alone are not responsible for the poll debacle in five states, including Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab.
"We have always wanted that everyone should come together to strengthen the party...We are all responsible, and singling out the Gandhi family is not right," Kharge said.
The party's abysmal performance in the recently held Assembly polls in five states was termed as a "cause of serious concern" in the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) held earlier this week.
In a statement released after the CWC meeting on Wednesday, the core group had unanimously reaffirmed its faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and requested her "to lead from the front, and address the organisational weaknesses while effecting necessary and comprehensive organisational changes in order to take on the political challenges".
Sonia Gandhi had on Tuesday sought the resignations of state party chiefs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
The results of five Assembly polls came as a shock to the Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.
The party is slated to elect a new party chief later this year at the culmination of organisational elections. (ANI)