Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and election strategist Prashant Kishore.
Highlights
- Prashant Kishor discussed in meeting between Rahul, state party leaders for Gujarat polls
- Leaders also discussed organizational issues of party in meeting
- Back-channels talks are said to be on after initial negotiations failed regarding Prashant Kishor
The issue of availing services of poll strategist Prashant Kishor in the Gujarat Assembly polls slated for later this year was discussed in a meeting of state party leaders with senior leader Rahul Gandhi, party sources said on Thursday.
However, there was no decision and the leaders moved on to discuss the organizational issues of the party in the meeting held two days back, a source said.
There are said to be back-channels talks going on again after the initial negotiations failed, but the Congress denied it. However, the party has taken on board a close aide of Kishor, to work for the party without any condition, as the joining of the political consultant was stalled by Congress leaders because he wanted a major say in ticket distribution.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has already hired Kishor to evolve a strategy for next elections.
PK, as Kishor is popularly called, had recently met Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and they were understood to have discussed plans for 2023 Assembly polls and also Rao's proposed front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He is believed to have provided the outcome of a preliminary survey reportedly done by his team in other states to the TRS chief's idea of a national alternative.
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