Rahul Gandhi's close aide welcomes Prashant Kishor into Congress; deletes tweet later

Archana Dalmia, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi posted a tweet on Wednesday welcoming poll strategist Prashant Kishor into the Congress party. 

"A warm welcome to Prashant Kishor into the Congress family," tweeted Dalmia but deleted the post minutes later, triggering speculations that the poll strategist may have secretly joined the grand old party. 

A day ago, Kishor had held discussions with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sparking speculations of a united front against the BJP in the upcoming general elections. Reports indicate that during their talks, Gandhis may have offered a formal role to the strategist in the party, as it prepares big elections ahead, state and national.

Prashant Kishor meets Congress top brass

Speculations are rife that the meeting between Gandhis and Kishor had a larger agenda revolving around the 2024 polls, how Congress can be relevant in attempts to form a front against the BJP. Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi was also present via video conferencing during the meeting of Prashant Kishor, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka, and KC Venugopal. As per sources, the meeting lasted about 1 hour. The presence of the party president at the meeting was significant as she sought to know how Congress can be strengthened ahead of the elections. 

Last month, Kishor, whose latest success has been the victory of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar thrice.

Prashant Kishor's meeting with Rahul Gandhi also comes amid the infighting in Punjab Congress when Congress MLA Navjot Sidhu has been making the political situation difficult for CM Captain Amarinder Singh while assembly elections in the state are to be held next year. 

While the Congress High Command has maintained that Captain Amarinder Singh will remain the party's CM face in the elections, Navjot Singh Sidhu is reportedly vying for the top post after having been at loggerheads with the Punjab CM's administration over several issues.