New Delhi, April 16
The Congress on Saturday started its preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections with political strategist Prashant Kishor presenting a detailed roadmap for 2024 before Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and top party leaders.
Amid the buzz that Kishor may also join the party in “some capacity”, senior leader KC Venugopal said Kishor gave a presentation on the poll strategy for upcoming Lok Sabha elections and that “every detail will be shared within a week’s time”.
“Prashant Kishor has given a detailed presentation on 2024 polls strategy to the Congress chief. The plan presented by him will be looked into by a committee set up by the Congress chief and will submit a report to her within a week for a final decision,” Venugopal was quoted as saying
Sources, meanwhile, claimed that Kishor indicated he was “ready to join the Congress without any expectations. He just wants that the plan be implemented to help strengthen the party at the grassroots level”.
Kishor was expelled from JD (U) over his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act. Earlier too he was spotted at the residence of Rahul Gandhi, which he called a “courtesy meeting”.
Kishor is believed to have given his long-term strategy for the Congress’ revival. With an eye on the 2024 general elections, he is understood to have told the leadership to focus on 365-370 parliamentary seats alone and strengthen base in these constituencies.
He also recommended that the party should contest alone in Assemblieswhere it is strong and was either in the top or in the second position in earlier elections. He also asked the leadership to start afresh in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, they added.
Kishor, who has held several rounds of meetings with the top Congress leadership, is also learnt to have made suggestions on the Assembly elections including the induction of Naresh Patel, a Patidar leader in Gujarat.
The Congress leadership is learnt to have discussed poll strategy for Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and the ‘Chintan Shivir’ scheduled in Rajasthan with the aim to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level and discuss changes in the party.
They also discussed the current political situation, the sources said. Those present included former party chief Rahul Gandhi, senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Digivijaya Singh, Ajay Maken and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
