Congress leader Raj Babbar asserts G-23 is Gandhi 23

Congress leader Raj Babbar on Saturday said that G-23 (or the group of 23 dissenting leaders) is Gandhi 23 and wants the party to be strong.

"People say 'G23', I say Gandhi 23. With the belief, resolve and thinking of Mahatma Gandhi, this nation's law and Constitution was formed. The Congress will take these forward," Babbar said at 'Shanti Sammelan' in Jammu.

Former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar also said G-23 wants Congress to be "strong."

Meanwhile, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that nobody has the right to declare whether G-23 leaders are part of Congress or not.

"All of us have covered a long distance to reach where we're today. I have not given anyone the right to declare whether we are people of Congress or not. Nobody has that right. We will build the party and strengthen it," he said.

Raj Babbar along with Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vivek Tankha are among other Congress leaders who were present at the event orgsed by former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Azad is the senior-most member among the 23 leaders, who had expressed dissent at the functioning of the Congress party and had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August last year.

The Shanti Sammelan event has been orgsed days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "North-South" remark, which has led to a controversy over the past few days. The event is being held at a time when Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in Tamil Nadu.

Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma stated that the G-23 or the group of 23 dissenting leaders are seeing the Congress party "getting weaker" and are raising their voice for the betterment of the party.

"The truth is that we see Congress party getting weak. That is why we have gathered here. We had gathered together earlier too and we have to strengthen the party together," Sibal said.

Anand Sharma who addressed the Shanti Sammelan said that "Congress has weakened in the last decade."

"Our voice is for the betterment of the party. It should be strengthened everywhere once again. The new generation should connect (to party). We have seen good days of Congress. We do not want to see it weakening as we become older," he said.

Last year in August, G-23 leaders through a letter to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed their discontent and urged the top leadership of Congress to bring immediate reforms, including orgsational elections from the grass-roots to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) level.

( With inputs from ANI )