On eve of Sonia's meeting with 'letter writers', Congress asserts Rahul best suited to lead party

Ahead of a crucial meeting between Sonia Gandhi and a section of senior leaders who had written to her in August demanding an overhaul of the organisation, the Congress on Friday downplayed any internal dissensions and said Rahul Gandhi was the "right person" to lead the party. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party stood united and together as a family and there are no dissensions pending after the announcement of elections to the party chief's post.

The assertion comes ahead of Saturday's meeting between Sonia Gandhi and many of the 23 leaders who wrote to her in August. They had also demanded an active leadership and maintained that Gandhis will always be a "guiding force". Sources said among those slated to meet Gandhi are Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, the party's deputy leader in the upper house Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha and Shashi Tharoor.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and senior leader P Chidambaram will also be part of the meeting, sources added. Rahul Gandhi is also set to attend the meeting.