NEW DELHI: Political strategist Prashant Kishore has returned to the table with the Congress to discuss possibility of working with the party for the Gujarat state elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said that the discussions also include the possibility of Mr Kishore joining the Congress party. He has already met former congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, according to sources.
They said Mr Kishore is more interested in joining the Congress rather than working as an election consultant.
“He wants to join the party and reorganize it before going into elections. We are hopeful things would work out this time around,” said a senior party leader.
Mr Kishore had a bitter fallout with the Congress last year when the party reportedly rejected his proposal to create a new post of General Secretary (Elections) for him.
Top party leaders were of the opinion that Mr Kishore could help the party fight elections as an advisor, but should not be handed over full charge of fighting elections.
Their argument was that if Mr Kishore were to be handed over the charge of selecting candidates, mobilizing voters and choosing election themes, what would other general secretaries do.
They felt that accepting Mr Kishore’s demand would render entire party organization useless.
The party, therefore, rejected the proposal. Mr Kishore did not take the rejection kindly and attacked Rahul Gandhi in a tweet saying “…Congress leadership is not the divine right of an individual especially when the party has lost more than 90 per cent elections in the last 10 years. Let opposition leadership be decided democratically.”
Mr Kishore had announced after successfully handling West Bengal elections for the Trinamool Congress that he would not take any more assignments as an election strategist. He has been keen on joining politics.
He, however, had a disastrous debut with the Janata Dal (United) where he was made Vice President with a lot of hopes. His stint did not last long and he parted ways with the then JD(U) chief, Mr Nitish Kumar, on a friendly note.
Mr Kishore shot to fame in 2014 when he worked with Mr Narendra Modi and helped BJP win Lok Sabha elections. He has since worked with almost half a dozen regional parties and helped them defeat the BJP.
There is a section in the Congress that doubts Mr Kishore’s commitment to Congress ideology and his ability to work as a disciplined soldier of the party. This section feels that the party would be better off hiring him as a consultant.