Prashant Kishor meets Gandhis over Punjab Congress row, sparks speculation about 'bigger strategy'
New Delhi/IBNS: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday as the party faces infighting in Punjab, ahead of polls next year.
The tussle is between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his rival Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Following the meeting, party's leader in charge in Punjab Harish Rawat hinted at a solution.
"In the next three to four days you will get good news for both Sidhu and Amarinder Singh," Rawat told reporters.
Speculations in the media are rife that Prashant Kishor's meeting with the Gandhis was not just state-specific but part of a "bigger strategy".
He had earlier met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Paward following which there was speculation about an alternative or third front of opposition leaders to take on the mighty Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in 2024.
The Gandhis had earlier met with Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu separately over their differences.
In 2017, Kishor played a key role in bringing Sidhu to the Congress party just before the Punjab polls.
But after the Congress won Punjab helmed by Kishor's strategy, Amarinder Singh and Sidhu fell out.
Two years later, Sidhu quit the Punjab cabinet, feeling slighted by Singh.
On June 30, Sidhu first met Priyanka Gandhi in Delhi for four long hours and tweeted an image with her. Later, he met Rahul Gandhi as well.
Had a long meeting with @priyankagandhi Ji đđŒ pic.twitter.com/Wd4FYXFrhr
â Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) June 30, 2021
Days later Amarinder Singh met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and told reports that he would accept "whatever decision is taken by the high command".
"I don't know anything about Sidhu saab, jo bhi faisla hoga ,woh ham amal karenge jo Congress president chahtey hain (Whatever is the decision, whatever the Congress president wants, we will follow it)," he had said.
Singh and Sidhu have been publicly involved in a feud damaging the Congress position in the state ahead of the Assembly elections next year.
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