Sonia Gandhi to take final call on Prashant Kishor, party leaders divided
Sonia Gandhi has already met senior Congress leaders to discuss the induction of Prashant Kishor against which G-23 leaders reportedly have their reservation.
The Congress is divided over the issue of including Prashant Kishor in the party as speculations are rife that Kishor may get an extraordinary status if he joins the party.
Given this situation, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take the final call and she has already held discussions with several senior leaders on this issue, sources said to news agency PTI.
It has been learnt that G-23, the group of 23 leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi last year seeking a complete overhaul of the party, has raised objections to Prashant Kishor’s joining the party.
Reports said they recently met at Kapil Sibal’s residence and discussed Prashant Kishor’s possible induction into the party.
Some Congress leaders are, however, in favour of including the poll strategist who has a stellar track record, the latest being the West Bengal and the Tamil Nadu assembly election, where the parties for which his company campaigned came to power.
Whether there will be a separate campaign committee headed by Prashant Kishor or whether he will function under the present system is the bone of contention.
Reports said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have no problem in working with Kishor as they have worked together in the past in the 2017 UP election when the Congress was in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
The alliance did not work out and that is why a section of Congress insiders consider Prashant Kishor’s success as case-specific.
After campaigning for the Trinamool and the DMK, Prashant Kishor announced that he doesn’t want to continue with the work that he has been doing and since then speculation of his big political plunge has been doing the rounds. Prashant Kishor was part of the JD(U) in the past and has recently quit as Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s adviser.