Sonia Gandhi on Monday decided to form an empowered action group for the 2024 parliamentary elections without specifying whether election consultant Prashant Kishor will be part of it.
This decision was taken at the meeting called to discuss the report submitted by the group that examined Kishor’s presentation for Congress’s revival. Sonia sought the views of all the members on Kishor’s induction and deferred the announcement of her decision, indicating lack of consensus and the complexities involved.
Sources confirmed that majority of the members in the group were opposed to Kishor being given any prominent role in the party but there was no opposition to a specific assignment for campaign management being given to him at this stage.
Kishor may be included in the empowered action group but whether he will join the party without his demands being fulfilled is for him to decide. But he will be inducted into the party only after he breaks relations with all other parties.
The group included A.K. Antony, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh. Sonia has also consulted Kamal Nath and chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel on this issue apart from Rahul Gandhi who too is said to be not enthusiastic about the idea. But Rahul asked the party to take a collective decision instead of relying on his opinion.
Asked if Kishor would be included in the empowered action group, party’s communication chief Randeep Surjewala said: “You will get to know when it is formed in a few days.”
One leader said: “We have started the process of revamp with the empowered group and three-day Chintan Shivir to be held from May 13. Who wants to join our party and who wants to quit is not our concern.”
The Congress leadership is moving cautiously on the question of inducting Kishor into the party in the face of strong opposition among the rank and file, particularly because of suspicions caused by his past association with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
Majority in the party is said to be opposed to any association with him because of his unclear ideological commitment and continued association with other political parties. His anti-Rahul rants have also angered loyalists.
As his company I-PAC signed a deal with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Sunday, Congress Telangana in-charge Manickam Tagore tweeted: “Never trust someone who is friends with your enemy.”
A resurgent Congress expects to put up a formidable challenge to TRS in the next election while Kishor initially favoured an alliance with Chandrashekhar Rao. Telangana Congress has already hired Sunil Kanugolu, who earlier worked with Kishor, to devise a campaign strategy.
While Kishor claims he was no more with I-PAC, nobody in the Congress believes his assertions.
One AICC secretary said: “It is like Mukesh Ambani saying he has no link with Reliance Industries. It is like the BJP saying it has no link with the RSS. What is this drama? If you want to join a party and work to strengthen it, will you speak ill of its character and its leaders? We are convinced he hasn’t conducted himself with dignity and grace. The impression that the party is desperate to embrace him is absolutely false.”
