Even as his direct involvement in the Gujarat Assembly Polls remains unclear, seems master election strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) will play a role in the December elections. Highly placed sources confirmed the arrival of PK’s team, adding “work has begun by renting a flat near the BJP headquarters Kamalam.” The recce group comprises pollsters who worked in West Bengal and Telangana.
Interestingly, the Congress is yet to decide on Kishor’s proposal. The matter was discussed with Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to the state, add senior state party leaders. “We are keen to work with PK and his team. However, the final decision rests with RaGa,” stated sources.
It may be recalled that Kishor went rather ballistic on the Congress leadership after failed talks with the party’s top brass September last year. While the Congress employed the services of PK’s former aide, the Chanakya of contemporary Indian politics went on to steer Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool to a landslide victory in the Bengal polls.
So, what went wrong between the I-Pac and the Congress? Considering that several rounds of talks did take place between the Gandhis and Kishor, one was optimistic about an alliance. Though PK himself never divulged details of the fallout, it is widely believed that “the Gandhis did not want to grant Kishor as much leverage as he sought.”
Perhaps, that explains his caustic tweet later that: “Congress is not the divine right of any individual, especially when the party has lost more than 90 percent of elections in the last 10 year.”
In fact, PK has spelt it out on many occasions that the Congress has a role to play in the Opposition, but that cannot be achieved under the present leadership. It may, therefore, be a wise move to launch an idea of the ground realities before officially starting the work in Gujarat. A future strategy can only be worked out in the light of grassroot truths.
