Close on the heels of the poll rout in the five states where the Assembly elections were held recently, interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi is holding a meeting on Saturday with the election strategist Prashant Kishor.
The meeting is taking place in the backdrop of speculations running rife about Kishor joining Congress.
Kishor had previously held parleys with the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. However, there had been no forward movement.
According to sources, Gandhi called an urgent meeting at her residence. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken and KC Venugopal are also present at the meeting with Kishor.
The meeting is also taking place in the backdrop of Congress' poll preparations for Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections this year.
After the recent poll debacle in five states, Congress is seeking to restart negotiations with Kishor. The results of five Assembly polls came as a shock to Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.
"PK (Prashant Kishor) can be seen taking an advisory role instead of joining Congress. Talks between Prashant Kishor and the Gandhis had collapsed after Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal victory in the state Assembly elections for which he was a strategist," said a senior Congress functionary.
In the past, Prashant Kishor has worked with Congress for the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections. He was credited with helping Congress and Captain Amarinder Singh win 77 out of 117 seats in the 2017 Punjab elections.
Kishor gained acclaim owing to the BJP's landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.
( With inputs from ANI )
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