Congress chief Sonia Gandhi varieties panel to test on Prashant Kishor’s technique paper for 2024 polls

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has shaped a three-member committee comprising social gathering veterans AK Antony, Ambika Soni and Mallikarjun Kharge to look at election strategist Prashant Kishor’s technique paper for contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The committee has been requested to submit its report in per week.

Kishor had made a three-hour presentation at Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence on April 16. It was attended by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, General secretary Priyanka Gandhi, and senior leaders AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijay Singh, Mukul Wasnik, KC Venugopal,  Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken, moreover the Congress president.

In the presentation, Kishor outlined the errors the social gathering has been making and introduced another plan that might assist the social gathering succeed on the hustings.

Among his strategies was to focus social gathering assets on winnable seats, which he mentioned have been solely 370 out of Lok Sabha’s complete energy of 543. He mentioned Congress is a good product which lacks correct advertising. He was notably essential of the social gathering’s media technique.

He brushed apart the rising communal polarization as an insignificant concern and mentioned it could possibly be countered by galvanizing and empowering employees on the sales space stage. He mentioned the social gathering ought to struggle by itself in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and enter into alliance in states like Andhra, Telangana, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

After the presentation, Sonia requested the leaders about their opinion on the presentation. Sources mentioned Digvijay Singh and AK Antony appeared not very impressed by the proposal. Digvijay mentioned that is precisely what the social gathering had mentioned after its final two chintan shivirs at Pachmarhi and Shimla. Antony mentioned a lot of the factors talked about within the proposal have been just like these he had talked about in his report after the social gathering’s loss in 2014.

The response of others was muted. But Jairam Ramesh was filled with reward for the concepts introduced by Kishor and mentioned they have been price making an attempt.

Kishor confronted a clumsy second through the assembly. When he referred to media experiences about his appointment as Congress basic secretary, and mentioned he isn’t hankering after any social gathering place, Kharge lower him off and mentioned “PK, didn’t you come to me asking me to recommend you to be made Congress vice-president.”

After the assembly Congress leaders mentioned it was now sure that Kishor would be part of the social gathering. He might, nonetheless, not get the quantity two slot within the social gathering. Going by what Kharge mentioned through the assembly and what key social gathering functionaries really feel, Kishor had been bargaining for a publish subsequent to solely the Congress president. He is reportedly eager on reporting solely to the Congress president.

Congress sources mentioned some leaders have been of the view that earlier than giving him full accountability of strategizing the 2024 basic elections, he needs to be requested to show the efficacy of his plan within the impending state elections.

“Elections are due in over a dozen states before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Congress holds a little over 400 seats out of the 1500 plus seats in these states. Let him first help the party improve its tally in these states before taking a big bite,” mentioned a senior Congress chief.

Kishor has already introduced that he can be a part of a political social gathering by May 2, when his sabbatical ends.