Rahul meets Kishor ahead of Punjab rejig

There was no official word on what was discussed at the meeting, but sources said new state Cong body will be announced soon

NEW DELHI: Election strategist Prashant Kishor met with the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday for nearly an hour, setting off wild speculation about everything from reconciliation in Punjab between warring factions of the party, through a common opposition candidate for the 2022 Presidential election, to a united front in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress, whose general secretary KC Venugopal was also present during the meeting, declined to comment.

In response to a query on whether he was helping put together an opposition alliance, Kishor would only say: “all speculation”.

Still, each of the theories -some put forth by Congress leaders themselves -- was plausible.

Kishor, after all, is Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s adviser (if only informal), and Tuesday’s meetings came five days after he met with the CM. The Congress’s central leadership has been trying to resolve a crisis in the Punjab unit, largely driven by party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s ambitions for himself and antipathy towards the chief minister.

A dissident group has coalesced around Sidhu, driven by what is seen as the chief minister’s non-delivery of poll promises (in 2017), friendliness towards the Badals of the Shiromani Akali Dal, and overreliance on bureaucrats at the cost of exclusion of lawmakers. A decision on a resolution is believed to be imminent (Singh met with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week), as is rejig of the party’s Punjab unit.

Yet, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday’s meeting was not about that.

Some top functionaries of the Congress said on condition of anonymity that the meeting was focused on strategies for the 2024 national polls and how to forge a unity between opposition parties.