NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday constituted an Empowered Action Group to prepare the party for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 after examining a comprehensive revival plan proposed by political strategist Prashant Kishor, but there was no word on his induction into the party.
An eight-member committee that studied Kishor’s plan held a three-hour long meeting at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence, following which it was decided to set up the empowered group.
Kishor’s meeting with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao last weekend, following which the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi decided to hire the strategist’s I-PAC for poll work, seems to have become the latest sticking point in his induction with a section of the committee sharing concerns about his loyalty and conflict of interest with Sonia.
There were indications that the call on getting him on board the Congress could be delayed. The party also announced six panels to do the spadework ahead of the Congress ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur from May 13- 15. G-23 members like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Manish Tewari and Bhupinder Singh Hooda found berths in the panels. Kerala’s Ramesh Chennithala, too, was included.