No need to speak to me through media: Sonia Gandhi to G-23 leaders during CWC meet

`I have always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the CWC,` Sonia Gandhi said.

New Delhi: Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday (October 16, 2021) took a veiled dig at the group of 23 (G-23) leaders and said that there is no need to speak to her through the media adding that she appreciates frankness. 

"I have always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)," Sonia Gandhi said at the CWC meeting, which was chaired by her at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi. 

Last year in August, a delegation of 23 members (G-23) of Congress wrote a letter to Congress interim President demanding a slew of organisational reforms. Ahead of the meeting, the G-23 leaders demanded elections for CWC members, Central Election Committee (CEC) members, and Parliamentary Board Elections. 

"Undoubtedly, we face many challenges but if we are united, if we are disciplined and if we focus on the Party`s interests alone, I am confident that we will do well. The respective General Secretaries and In-Charges will be briefing us on the states individually and so I will not like to say anything more now on this subject," noted Gandhi.

During the meet, while laying emphasis on her position in the party, Sonia Gandhi also said she is the "full-time and hands-on" party chief.

Earlier, senior party leader Kapil Sibal, who is a member of the G-23, had said that the party leaders are unaware of who is taking the decisions in the party as there is no president.

Sonia Gandhi was made interim president by CWC after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as the president of AICC accepting the responsibility of poll debacle in the 2019 general elections. 

(With ANI inputs)