Election strategist Prashant Kishor, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her close aides on April 16, wants the party to set a target of up to 400 seats for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, CNN-News18 reported.
Party sources, while speaking to the news channel, said Kishor gave a presentation of the road-ahead for the Congress, and conveyed to the party leadership that their target for the next general elections should not be less than 370 to 400 constituencies.
Kishor also suggested the Congress to move into strategic alliance in regions where it lacks an electoral stronghold, the persons familiar with the development told CNN-News18, adding that the strategist is likely to join the party shortly and has sought "nothing in return".
Among those who attended the meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence, where Kishor gave a presentation, were former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress' Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh and Ajay Maken.
Kishor, during his presentation, also suggested measures which the party could adopt to improve its position in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat -- the two states going to polls later this year, reports said. This includes the induction of Naresh Patel, a prominent Patidar leader, to strengthen its position in Gujarat, Kishor reportedly said.
Kishor's meeting with the Gandhis and other senior Congress leaders comes around four months after he attacked the party on social media, saying that it "does not have the divine right" to lead the Opposition. "...especially when the party has lost more than 90 per cent elections in the last 10 years," he had tweeted on December 2.
Kishor, who heads the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), had revealed in television interviews last year that he was close to joining the Congress but the talks fell apart.
Notably, Kishor had shot to fame in 2014, when he powered Narendra Modi's maiden prime ministerial campaign. He shortly severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and assisted Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar in his quest to retain power in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls. The 45-year-old was most recently lauded for strategising the Trinamool Congress (TMC) campaign in the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, where the the Mamata Banerjee-led party returned to power with nearly a three-fourth mandate despite the BJP's aggressive campaign.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
