Ghulam Nabi Azad writes to Sonia, seeks CWC meeting to discuss party affairs amid mass exodus

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has written to party president Sonia Gandhi demanding an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to discuss the current state of affairs in the organisation. Sources said Azad, a former leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha who currently leads the ‘‘group of 23’’ leaders who have demanded organisational overhaul in the past, has sought internal discussions in the wake of exodus of its leaders. Senior party colleague has also demanded that an immediate meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the party, be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president. Their demand comes in the wake of turmoil in Punjab Congress after the ouster of Amarinder Singh as chief minister; former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and leaders like Sushmita Dev and Abhijeet Mukherjee quitting the party; and senior Kerala Congress leader VM Sudheeran resigning from the AICC. Azad, along with 22 other leaders, had last year written to Congress president demanding organisational overhaul and elections to all party posts. Sonia Gandhi has thereafter held a meeting with some such leaders including Azad and it was decided to hold elections for the new Congress president by June. However, the same could not happen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders of the ‘‘group of 23’’ have claimed that they are wanting reforms in the party in order to strengthen the organisation to take on the BJP and Narendra Modi and are raising issues in the interest of the party.