‘Not part of it’, says Moily, distancing himself from ‘G-23’ Jammu meet
In a public show of ‘dissent’, the leaders, including Azad, Anand Sharma & Kapil Sibal gathered on one stage in Jammu recently, saying party is weakening & they have come together to strengthen it
BENGALURU: Distancing himself from the Jammu meet of G-23 leaders, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday virtually expressed concern over internal differences in the party spilling out into the open, and backed Rahul Gandhi’s return as president of the outfit.
The former Union minister was one of the group of 23 leaders who wrote to interim president Sonia Gandhi in August last year urging her to ensure “full-time” and “visible” leadership. It has since come to be known as ‘G-23’.
Referring to the rally on Saturday in Jammu by some of the ‘G-23’ leaders ostensibly to felicitate Ghulam Nabi Azad on his retirement from the Rajya Sabha — seen as a show of strength, Moily said it has been misread as a ‘dissident’ meeting.
“It is not a dissident meeting. We (some of the ‘G-23’ leaders) are not part of it,” he said.
In a public show of dissent, the leaders, including Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal gathered on one stage in Jammu on Saturday, saying the party is weakening and they have come together to strengthen it.
Moily, who had also served as Chief Minister of Karnataka, said the purpose of the August letter was to improve the party, for effective reformation and organisational elections at all levels.
“It’s not against the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. We are all with the leadership, we are with the Congress. We are not against them becoming president,” he said.
On the growing clamour in the party for the return of Rahul Gandhi as president, Moily said: “We also want him to come back as Soniaji is not well.”