Priyanka Gandhi tells why Prashant Kishor did not join Congress

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has opened up about poll strategist Prashant Kishor wanting to join the Congress last year and why “it did not work out”.

Speaking to NDTV, Priyanka said on Friday (January 21) that the possibility of Prashant Kishor aka PK joining the Congress last year was real, but it didn’t work out for “multiple” reasons. “I think it did not work out for multiple reasons. Some on his part, some on our part. I wouldn’t want to get into the details of that. Broadly there was an inability to agree on certain issues, which sort of impeded the discussion from moving forward,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

When asked if the party high command was against bringing an outsider into the Congress, Priyanka said, “Had there been that reluctance, there wouldn’t have been so many discussions.”

Also read: Congress divided on Prashant Kishor’s entry, Sonia to take final call

As per media reports, Prashant Kishor had met the Gandhis (Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka) several times last year. There were pictures of PK coming out of Rahul Gandhi’s house, which led to the speculation that his entry into the Congress is a given.

In July last year, PK had an elaborate meeting with Rahul Gandhi at his residence on Delhi. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal and Harish Rawat too were present. That’s the time when rumours started about him joining the party. But a few months back, PK made public statements about Congress which did not go down well with the party leadership. He said it is unlikely that BJP can be dislodged in the 2024 national elections. “That is where the problem lies with Rahul Gandhi, probably. He thinks it’s just a matter of time that people will throw him [Modi] away. That’s not happening,” Kishor had said then.

In yet another event, Kishor said it was not the “divine right of any individual” to lead the Congress, “especially when the party has lost more than 90 per cent of the elections in the last 10 years.”

It is also said that while the Gandhis had welcomed Kishor, several Congress leaders including the G-23 group was opposed to his entry. The G-23 group – who in a letter to Sonia Gandhi had suggested reforms in the party in 2020 – had reportedly told the party hat PK’s entry to Congress is not a good idea.

But there were those who thought his entry will do a lot of good to the party whose political fortunes have been on the wane for some years now.

Earlier, he had teamed up with Congress-SP alliance for the 2017 UP elections, but that did not give any benefit to the Congress as the BJP came to power with a resounding majority. However, in Punjab, PK did help Captain Amarinder Singh win the poll for Congress.