Will Prashant Kishor be in charge of the Congress’ Gujarat assembly election campaign?
Patidar leader Naresh Patel, who is expected to join the party, has made Kishor’s appointment a requirement.
A total of 20 Congress MLAs in Gujarat want the poll strategist on board.
Hardik Patel, the Congress-working president for Gujarat, has publicly chastised his party for delaying a decision on the proposed induction of influential Patidar leader Naresh Patel into the party. Calling it an insult to the entire community. Naresh Patel, 56, has appeared as the tallest leader of the Leuva Patidars, a numerically robust and politically influential sub-group of the Patidar community.
Patel is the chairman of the SKT, which manages the grand temple of goddess Khodiyar, the patron god of the Leuva Patidar community, in Kagvad, near Rajkot. He is also well-known for his philanthropy. For example, since 2013, the Sardar Patel Cultural Foundation, an organization founded by Patel, has provided free coaching in Rajkot to youths interested in joining the government.
Patel also established the Khodaldham Samadhan Panch, a forum for alternative dispute resolution.
Because of his growing clout, Patel is being courted by the state’s three major political parties. The BJP, the Congress, and the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). Sukhram Rathva, the Gujarat assembly’s opposition leader, recently stated that his party, the Congress, would win the upcoming assembly elections.
However, Congress has shown no urgency in inducting Patel. While Gujarat unit leaders such as Hardik Patel are outrage and desperate. Congress insiders say the “delay” is due to Naresh Patel’s condition. According to sources, the Patidar leader has told the Congress leadership that he will only join the Grand Old Party. If election strategist Prashant Kishor handles the Congress poll campaign in Gujarat.
The party’s leadership is undecide about hiring Kishor’s professional services. Kishor approached Congress last year with a plan to revitalize the party. The poll strategist wished to be a member of Congress as well. However, he and the party’s leadership were unable to agree on the terms and conditions.
