Poll strategist Prashant Kishor met with interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi at a key party meeting at her residence, 10 Janpath, on Monday, 18 April. This is Kishor's second meeting with the Congress chief in the past three days, fuelling speculation over the possibility of him joining the grand old party.
The meeting comprised a small group of leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, and Ambika Soni.
The gathering was held to deliberate on the party's strategy for the upcoming state Assembly elections as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, as per reports. The meeting focused on the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
Kishor has suggested that the Congress fight alone in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, and form alliances in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra, news agency ANI reported, citing sources.
Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also met Sonia Gandhi on Monday.
What Happened in the Previous Meeting?
On Saturday, Kishor presented a detailed roadmap for the 2024 elections before Sonia Gandhi and the party's top leaders. "Prashant Kishor has given a detailed presentation for the 2024 elections and the Congress President has deputed a small group to look into it and report to her within a week. A final decision will be taken after that," Congress General Secretary (Organisation), KC Venugopal said following the meeting.
The grand old party has also proposed that Kishor join the Congress, as per sources. Sources told The Quint that a proposal about Kishor joining the party as a full-time leader, and not merely as a professional consultant, was also furthered on Saturday.
Last year, Kishor and the Gandhis had held several rounds of talks on building a consolidated front for the 2024 national election. Discussions on the poll strategist joining the party had also been held, but collapsed due to some disagreements between the two sides, Priyanka Gandhi had indicated in January this year.
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