Amid increasing rumours suggesting that political strategist Prashant Kishor might join the Congress party, the party high command conducted a crucial meeting on Monday, 25 April, to decide on whether it will accept the poll strategist’s proposal to revamp the grand old party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
However, there has been no official announcement yet.
This comes after the election strategist held a fresh round of talks with interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on 20 April – their fourth meeting in five days – after which it was said that a proposal by Kishor was under consideration by the grand old party.
The proposal itself, a detailed roadmap, was presented by Kishor on 16 April.
Monday’s meeting is being considered as the final meeting of the party brass on Kishor's proposal, with a decision expected by the end of the meeting.
Members of the seven-member committee, which submitted a report to her on Kishor's proposal, had reached the party chief's residence for the meeting, as per reports.
The committee is headed by former Union Minister P Chidambaram and senior leaders K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik, Ambika Soni, Jairam Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior leader AK Antony had also reached 10, Janpath, residence of the Congress president for the meeting, per sources quoted by news agency ANI.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Monday, 25 April, that Sonia Gandhi has decided to constitute an 'empowered action group' for 2024 to revamp the party, reported NDTV. He said, "Congress President decided to constitute an Empowered Action Group 2024. When that's constituted, we'll inform every one of its members and their roles."
However, he remained silent on Kishor's role in the plan.
The party also announced that it will hold a meeting – Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir – from 13-15 May in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Around 400 Congress leaders are expected to attend the session, as per Indian Express.
Monday's meeting also comes after Congress found out that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will be working with political consultancy company Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC).
Much to Congress' surprise, Kishor's two-day stay with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the TRS' contract with I-PAC for the 2023 state polls, has made a section of Congress veterans wary of a partnership with the poll strategist.
Now, though Kishor has officially ended his relations with I-PAC, he is said to be privy to all the decisions of the organisation which he earlier led, NDTV reported.
Rao's party is in direct contest with the Congress in the Telangana Assembly polls and, therefore, Kishor's weekend stay at Hyderabad is likely to play a crucial role in the Congress meeting on Monday.
(With inputs from NDTV and ANI.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)