Will Prashant Kishore Solve Congress' Problems Or Add To Them?
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-09-02 07:04:05
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It has been reported that senior party leaders have voiced their reservations against inducting poll strategist Prashant Kishor in the Congress in a pivotal role. This happened after Sonia Gandhi sounded them out about the move. The Congress high command (Sonia, along with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanaka Vadra) had held a series of meetings with Kishor a couple of months back when the poll strategist is reported to have presented to them his version of how the Congress is to be revamped and made relevant in these times. If Sonia Gandhi has sounded out senior party leaders about Kishor's appointment, it means that the high command has liked what Kishor has proposed.
The key objection against Kishor's induction is that since the high command has not listened to internal proposals in all these years and has not given a chance to seasoned leaders who are insiders and know the party culture and ways to revamp the party, it is too much to expect that Kishor can do so. One leader even said that Kishor "does not have a magic wand". The senior Congress leaders, and not only those in G-23, are worried that their areas of influence will be under threat if Kishor emerges as a power centre within the party. For a party that has always existed as a party of sycophants, it is too much to expect Congressmen to bow before anyone other than The Family.
It has also been reported that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra are very keen to induct Kishor in the Congress and give him the powers that he wants to turn the party around. It is a sad commentary on the state of the opposition and even Indian politics that the leaders of the people themselves need to be led by someone who has no connection with an organization that has been serving the people for more than 100 years. Employing consultants to develop strategy is another thing; putting them above senior leaders is another. The Congress high command must tread carefully as not listening to senior leaders on this will break the party.
