Senior Telangana Congress leader M Sasidhar Reddy said on Monday that a group of 23 senior Congress leaders writing letters to All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Sonia Gandhi on the issue of leadership did not want Rahul Gandhi to emerge strong.

He also targeted former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for criticizing party affairs. He alleged in a press release, "The fact is that he (Azad) and some of his friends from 'Group 23' do not want Rahul Gandhi to emerge strong."

He alleged that Azad, while the Union Health Minister, failed to actively campaign about the Rs 4300 crore fund allocated for the national program of prevention and control of encephalitis, and the Samajwadi Party made it a big issue and the reply of 2012 Won the state assembly elections.