Poll strategist Prashant Kishor shares plan to revive Congress with the Gandhis and other senior leaders

Strategy will be discussed with a small group before a final decision is taken, says general secretary K.C. Venugopal

Taking a step closer to formally joining the Congress, election strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday gave a detailed presentation to party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior senior leaders on what could be the principal Opposition party’s strategy to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting, attended by top leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Digivijaya Singh, Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, was held at Ms. Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence.

The meeting seems to be part of the party’s revival plan that will be discussed at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting before it is finalised for a chintan shivir (introspection camp), expected next month in Rajasthan.

“Prashant Kishor has made a detailed presentation for the 2024 election strategy. It needs some detailed discussion and the Congress president will set up a small group to discuss this entire presentation. That group will submit a report within a week’s time for a final decision,” the party’s general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told presspersons.

On the specific question of Mr. Kishor joining the party, Mr. Venugopal said everything would be known in a week.

The poll strategist’s equation with the Congress has seen several flip-flops over the past one year: from being reported that he would join the party on October 2 last year to being blamed for engineering the switchover of senior leaders like Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) and Luizinho Faleiro (Goa) to the Trinamool Congress, with whom Mr. Kishor has been working for a couple of years.

But talks of joining resumed after the Congress was decimated in the recent round of Assembly polls in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.