New Delhi, December 18: The crucial meeting between senior disgruntled leaders of the Congress known as G23 and interim party chief Sonia Gandhi will be held at her residence on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. which will also be attended by former Prime MInister Manmohan Singh and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.

This will perhaps be the first face to face meeting between them after 23 top leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi demanding sweeping reforms in the party. The meeting is being seen as a move towards "reconciliation" among the warring factions, who were reportedly snubbed when they sought appointment with the party chief. Sonia Gandhi Urges PM Narendra Modi to Extend Free Ration Scheme For Three Months, Says 'Millions at Risk of Slipping Into Poverty'.

Sources say Priyanka Gandhi took a step forward and decided to rope in senior leader Kamal Nath to break the ice between the faction critical of the leadership and others.

Besides Sonia, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, several senior leaders including A. K. Antony, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithvi Raj Chauhan will be present in the meeting.

Even former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be present in the meeting. The official agenda is to discuss the current political situation emerging out of the farmers' agitation.

Nath is believed to have been assigned the job to arrange a meeting of G23 and interim chief Sonia, party sources said on Thursday. The sources further said that Kamal Nath is concerned over the party's below par performance in several states.

The Congress leadership was left surprised after 23 senior leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi in August this year demanding a more active leadership. Nath himself lost power in March this year following a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh. Nath has earlier met Sonia Gandhi at her residence on December 8 to discuss party issues.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2020 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).