After the results of the West Bengal assembly elections were out, Prashant Kishor had said that he will no longer work for any party as an election strategist. However, if we look at the speculations, his talks with the Congress party are on. He may work for the party first in Gujarat and then in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. For this he has met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Two Congress leaders have also confirmed this meeting. However, there is no official statement on this meeting yet.
According to the Hindustan Times report, this meeting with PK took place a day after he met Sunil Kanugolu, another election strategist of the Gandhi family. Both the leaders said that Prashant Kishor’s meeting was about working with the Congress party on his Gujarat campaign. Let us tell you that the assembly elections are going to be held here in December.
Hindustan Times reported last year that Prashant Kishor had approached the Congress party in early 2020 and planned to help with the 2024 election campaign. Even after several meetings, there was no consensus between PK and the Gandhi family.
When Prashant Kishor’s former aide Sunil Kanugolu started working with the Congress party last month, PK’s chances of working with the Congress looked bleak. The two worked together on Narendra Modi’s campaign in the Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) organization in 2014. PK parted ways after that. Kanungolu continued to work with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He also worked with the BJP in the 2017 UP assembly elections.
The question that the Congress leadership now has to work on is whether both Kanugolu and Kishor can work together? Both Congress leaders said, “Congress is a big enough party to work for both.” Kanugolu is mainly concentrating on the Karnataka elections next year, but is expected to head a new cell that looks after all election strategy. HT has learned that Kanugolu has conveyed to the Gandhi family that they will have no objection if Prashant Kishor raises the party’s issue in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Prashant Kishor is said to have said during a meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday that if the Congress wants to challenge the BJP, then there is an urgent need to start work. A Congress leader said, “Though we were feeling very confident in Karnataka, it has dwindled after these election results.” Referring to the election results, the second leader said, “There is a feeling that the polarization successfully used by the BJP in places like Uttarakhand will work effectively in other states as well.” So we need to do something.”
However, as things stand, it seems no decision has been taken. Congress working president in Gujarat Hardik Patel said, “We have not heard anything about Prashant Kishor.”