Punjab Political Crisis: Prashant Kishor meets Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi

National

Amidst speculation that Rahul Gandhi was involved in finalising a deal between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his rival Navjot Singh Sidhu, sources say that election strategist Prashant Kishor called on the former Congress President. Reports suggest that Congress President Sonia Gandhi ought to meet the poll strategist and that discussions will be based on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, there was no confirmation from Congress on this matter.

This meeting came on a day when Mr Sidhu confused everyone about his next move by tweeting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab understands his “vision and Punjab model’. “It is clear they know — who is fighting for Punjab,” Mr Sidhu had tweeted.

But as it is expected that the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (UP), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, will attend the meeting, there is speculation that the meeting could be about other poll-bound States like U.P. and Uttarakhand as they go to polls along with Punjab early next year. However, Ms Vadra spent three days for an on-the-ground assessment of Congress’ organisation in Lucknow ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in U.P.

Apart from this, the presence of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who also is the Congress in-charge for Punjab, at Mr Gandhi’s house along with the general secretary, K.C. Venugopal leads to a discussion that Mr Kishor’s services would be used in all these poll-bound States. This speculation comes as Mr Kishor has worked with Congress previously in all these three States.

“In the next three-four days, there will be good news for Punjab Congress,” Mr Rawat told reporters outside Mr Gandhi’s house. He added that Mr Kishor had not discussed Punjab politics. Also, he is not part of the Gandhi-Kishor meeting. “Rahul Ji is a national leader. So many people meet him to discuss important issues. He takes inputs from different people. Prashant Kishor didn’t negotiate anything regarding Punjab,” said Mr Rawat.

Mr Kishor’s meeting with Rahul and Priyanka comes just weeks after he met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar regarding the formation of an opposition block to take on the Modi government, which makes the meeting much more important.