The Group of 23 leaders in the Congress party is strongly against the induction of poll strategist Prashant Kishor. They don’t want Kishore to control the party.
The group, which met at former Union minister Kapil Sibal’s residence, is apprehensive of ‘outsourcing’ key poll-related decision-making to Kishore.
The seniors say that they will also take part in all the discussions before making final decision.
Some leaders, who are said to be supportive of Prashant Kishor’s entry into the Congress, were also present during the meeting.
There are strong reservations among a section of leaders in the Congress over Prashant Kishor’s planned induction. The G-23 leaders, who picked up a feud with the Gandhi family two years ago over the organisational revamp of the party, are said to be strongly against doling out undue favours to Prashant Kishor in lieu of his services.
According to sources, the G-23 leaders met at Kapil Sibal’s house earlier to discuss the move to induct Prashant Kishor and appoint him to the post of general secretary.
“His proposal for organisational overhaul and a high-powered committee to run day to day affairs of the party are being discussed among senior leaders, we did the same,” said a senior leader who was part of the meeting.
“We have seen Prashant Kishor in Uttar Pradesh, his success is case-specific,” some leaders said. “Any proposal to include him into party fold should be discussed in the Congress Working Group as and when it meets,” they added.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda were among others who attended the meeting.
