Election strategist Prashant Kishor met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, once again sparking speculation of him joining the party, multiple reports emerged. According to The Hindu, senior leaders Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal were also present.
In 2021, there was non-stop buzz that election strategist Kishor would be joining the Congress on an official basis. According to multiple reports, Kishor had, in May 2021—after the results of the West Bengal assembly elections were announced—sent feelers out on working for the party, not in the capacity of a political consultant, but as a member of the party. Kishor had, after his successful stints in the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections, declared that he wanted to quit the election consultancy space and do something else in life.
Talks between the election strategist and the Congress high command had then failed. Several Congress leaders, including many from the G-23, were averse to Kishor managing things with a position in the party.
However, there are clear reasons for a reversal in the Congress position. The party had faced humiliating defeat in all the five states that went to polls, earlier this year. The grand old party has absolutely no reason to cheer as it lost Punjab, where it was in power to AAP, while in Uttar Pradesh, it wasn't even among the top four. The BJP outdid the Congress in Goa and Uttarakhand as well, while in Manipur, it fell behind the saffron party, and JD(U).
"We will introspect on the causes of defeat, work on the organisation and will try to do better in future. We are definitely disappointed but not demoralised. We have only lost the election, not courage. We are not going anywhere—we will keep fighting until we win. We will reinvent and return and will come back with a new strategy," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had told reporters.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were the leading campaigners for the party in all the five states, but failed to find favour with voters. Priyanka Gandhi had addressed 209 rallies and roadshows, the maximum by any top leader during the UP election campaign.
