Gehlot heads to Delhi for Saturday's meeting between Sonia, 'letter-writers'

Jaipur, Dec 18: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday left for Delhi to attend a meeting on December 19 between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some of the 23 senior leaders who had written a letter to her seeking an overhaul of the organisational structure, state party unit sources said.

Gandhi has fixed a series of meetings on December 19 and 20 with Congress leaders to decide on key issues concerning the party. During these deliberations over the weekend, she will also meet some of the prominent members of the "letter-writers' group".

Among them are Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and the deputy leader of the party in the Upper House, Anand Sharma. Gehlot left Jaipur for Delhi on Friday evening, the sources said.

"The chief minister is scheduled to attend a meeting with the (Congress) party president and other leaders in which discussions on organisational issues will be held on Saturday," they said. Twenty-three senior leaders of the party had written to Gandhi in August.

This is the first time that Gandhi will be meeting Congress leaders face-to-face, months after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been holding virtual meetings ever since, including the crucial Congress Working Committee meet in which party leaders discussed the letter which demanded a change in the leadership and an overhaul of the party's organisational structure.