Rahul brainstormed with Congress leaders on pros and cons of Prashant Kishor joining party: Sources

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi brainstormed with senior party leaders recently on the pros and cons of poll strategist Prashant Kishor joining the party, sources said on Thursday. Senior Congress leaders A K Antony, Mallikarjun Kharge, Kamal Nath, Ambika Soni, Harish Rawat, K C Venugopal and some others attended the meeting held at Gandhi’s residence here on July 22, they added.

The main agenda of the meeting convened by Gandhi was to discuss the pros and cons of having the poll strategist in the party and what role should be assigned to him if he joins the Congress, the sources said.

Most of the leaders who attended the meeting agreed that Kishor joining the Congress would be beneficial for the party, they added.

Prior to this meeting, Kishor met Gandhi on July 13. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present at that meeting. Since then, there has been speculation about the poll strategist joining the Congress.

There has been no official word on it from the party or from Kishor.

After the West Bengal Assembly polls earlier this year, Kishor had said he would quit working as an election strategist. He had joined the Janata Dal (United) a few years ago, but had parted ways with the Nitish Kumar-led party subsequently.