Prashant Kishor offered to join party, has drawn up a 2024 plan; Congress
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Prashant Kishor
New Delhi: Prashant Kishor, an election strategist for the Congress party, is being asked to become a full-fledged member of the party and not a consultant.
According to sources, he has shown interest in joining the party and outlined what is needed to improve its weaknesses, such as focusing on 370 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, if he joins, sources said.
Congress leader KC Venugopal announced, after meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi today, that Mr Kishor presented a detailed plan for the 2024 elections and a committee would be formed to look at these suggestions and ideas.
Recent negotiations between Mr Kishor and the Gandhis focus on a role in resurrecting the Congress ahead of the big elections, including the general election in 2024. A team-up that had been discussed by both parties had previously broken down.
Sources close to Prashant Kishor disagree with the Congress's claim that the discussions center on the Gujarat election later this year. Instead, they say the talks are primarily focused on the 2024 national election.
When the two sides reach an agreement for 2024, election in Gujarat or any other state will fall under PK's assignment. However, sources in the Congress say that Mr Kishor's latest pitch represents a one-time deal to work only on the Gujarat elections.
It is reported that PK's preference for a Big Bang approach is holding up the process compared to the Gandhis' desire for incremental changes that don't annoy party leaders too much by assigning the ace strategist sole responsibility for revamping the party.
Earlier, weeks after Mamata Banerjee's victory in Bengal, Kishor's talks with the Gandhis broke down. The Congress later hired a former associate of Kishor to handle its election campaigns.
In spite of Mr Kishor's sharp public digs at the Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, in the months after the breakdown, both sides have shown a willingness for another attempt at reconciliation after the party's latest election losses. Apparently, the communication did not stop.
