Has life come half circle! Prashant Kishor meets Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi:Poll strategist Prashant Kishor here on Tuesday met Congress former president Rahul Gandhi at latter's official residence, sources said.

Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, were also present during the meet.

The agenda of the meeting is not known yet, sources said. Kishor was the poll strategist for Congress in Punjab Assembly elections in which the party bagged 77 of the total 117 seats.

As Punjab elections are around the corner, the Congress is worried about the tensions between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Last month, Prashant Kishor has met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

The NCP head later called a meeting of opposition parties and eminent persons at his official residence in the national capital to discuss the current situation in the country, raising speculations of a possible third front in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Kishor was hired by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the Assembly polls in which Trinamool Congress defeated Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Left parties by a massive margin.

As per the sources, Mr Gandhi, Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, were present during the meeting.

However, the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed either by the poll strategist or by Congress.

Speaking to press, after the meeting, Mr Rawat said it was a general meeting and refuted the speculations that Mr Kishor was called by the Congress leadership to ease tensions between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.

"Rahul is a national leader and people keep visiting him," Mr Rawat said.Over the Punjab political tussle, Mr Rawat said both Capt Amarinder and Mr Sidhu have assured the high command that they will happily accept the decision of the party.

However, Mr Rawat said within three to four days, an announcement can be expected regarding Punjab Congress.Mr Kishor was the poll strategist for Congress in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections in which the party bagged 77 of the total 117 seats.

As Punjab elections are around the corner, Congress is worried about the friction between Captain Amarinder and Mr Sidhu. Both the leaders have visited the national capital several times in recent days.

Mr Sidhu has questioned the leadership of Capt Amarinder and handling of sacrilege case while Capt Amarinder has accused him of not towing to party line.Mr Sidhu was dropped from the local bodies portfolio by Capt Amarinder in 2019.

Prashant Kishor has met Rahul Gandhi a year ahead of UP polls 2022, Notably, Kisor's last association with congress was during the Uttar Pradesh elections 2017. He pitched the ideas of Khat rallies which grabbed headlines for short time. Later Congress joined hands with Samajwadi Paty but miserably failed and won only 7 seats.(UNI)