After poll debacle, G-23 returns; will Congress high command listen now?

Sources present at a G-23 meeting at the residence of Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad indicated that expansion plans were on the cards. A more brazen and emboldened G-23 would not only stress reforms but also go to the grassroots level and mobilise party workers.

It was late in the night when an SUV drove out of 5, South Avenue, ending a four-hour-long, much-hyped dinner on Wednesday. Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, wore a faint smile and waved as he left the high-profile residence of party leader Gulam Nabi Azad in Lutyens, Delhi. However, the smile couldn't hide the widening rift between the rebels and the high command of the Grand Old Party.

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Soon, the other leaders, including five former chief ministers, seven Union ministers, and former MPs, who attended the dinner, trooped out. However, all of them, except Vivek Tankha, remained tight-lipped about the meeting. Tankha only shrugged and said that there wasn't any rebellion and the dinner was simply an excuse to catch up with friends.

The meeting reportedly ended with a short statement that was marked by political hyperbole and loaded words like 'inclusive', 'collective', 'exodus' and 'like-minded parties' — in a clear message that truce was a matter of the past and the notion of rebellion would spread among the party workers now.

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With Kashmiri delicacies on the leaders’ plates, the political seasoning surely added more spice to the Gushtaba. What was unusual about the meeting was that, unlike the previous instances, this time around, the group brazenly put out a statement, thus, diffusing the cloud of doubt that hovered over the meeting after Sibal's "Sab ki Congress...ghar ki Congress" remark a day ago.

The meeting was held just days after the Congress Working Committee spelt out the political fallout of the drubbing it received in the assembly elections in clear terms. The numbers in, what many are calling, the ‘rebel camp’ are only increasing and are unlikely to dip in the coming days.