In a sign of deepening faultlines within the Congress, the group of 23 leaders, (G-23), who have been pushing for internal reforms and collective leadership, met at former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence to discuss the party’s poll debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls and formulate their next strategy.

Though there was no confirmation, reports suggest Mr. Azad could meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday with a proposal.

Wednesday’s meeting of the group, described either as reformists or dissenters, included leaders beyond those who had written a letter to Ms. Gandhi in August 2020 to press for sweeping changes. The addition to the list included one time Gandhi family loyalist, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Lok Sabha member Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankar Singh Vaghela and former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma.

Other G-23 leaders like Shashi Tharoor, Prithviraj Chavan, P. J. Kurien and Sandeep Dikshit also joined, apart from regulars like Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Raj Babbar.

The dinner meet was on at the time of writing of this report but sources claimed some leaders may have joined the group virtually as well.

Sources said that though the group had earlier planned to meet at Mr. Sibal’s residence, it was changed at the last minute, possibly to avoid further confrontation after Mr. Sibal’s direct attack on the Gandhis with his public statement that the Gandhi family should step aside.

As the G-23 chalk out their next strategy with a show of strength, voices within the Congress grew louder on taking disciplinary action against some of the key members.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the group’s actions were aimed at weakening the party. “Let them do 100 meetings. No one can weaken Sonia Gandhi- ji. The Congress party is with her from the streets to Delhi. These people will continue to meet and give speeches,” he said, adding, “Sonia Gandhi is taking all steps that have been discussed at the Congress Working Committe (CWC). If they still speak like this, it means they are trying to break the party.”

The Congress’ Chandni Chowk district unit, from where Mr. Sibal used to contest Lok Sabha elections, passed a resolution requesting Ms. Gandhi to take disciplinary action against the former Union Minister.

Though there were no signs of any such action, Ms. Gandhi met with the MPs from Punjab to review the party’s crushing defeat.

Sources claimed that the majority of the MPs had cited as reasons wrong ticket distribution by Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhary; former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s frequent statements against his own government; allegations of corruption against former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi; and sabotage against party candidates by him [Mr. Channi].

Later in the evening, a day after asking the PCC chiefs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa to resign, the Congress announced a fresh set of names to suggest organisational changes in these States. They include Jairam Ramesh (Manipur), Jitendra Singh (U.P.), Avinash Pandey (Uttarakhand), Rajani Patel (Goa), and Ajay Maken (Punjab).