Is Prashant Kishor lobbying for Sharad Pawar as next President to corner BJP?
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor recently met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The meeting came close on the heels of a series of talks that he held with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar. The meetings have now created a strong buzz in the political circles that Prashant Kishor is lobbying to get Sharad Pawar elected as the next President of India. Prashant Kishor met Sharad Pawar thrice since the West Bengal Assembly election results. One of these meetings at Sharad Pawars New Delhi residence was attended by a host of Opposition leaders. The meetings have led to speculation that Prashant Kishor is trying to build Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the next cycle of assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, Prashant Kishor has refuted such speculation saying he does not believe that a third front or a fourth front can challenge the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary polls. But his meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, according to sources, added a fresh dimension to Oppositions political fight against the BJP and the Narendra Modi government. It could be centred around the presidential election next year. Sources say that in Prashant Kishors calculation, the electoral college for the presidential election would become favourable for an Opposition candidate if Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik joins hands with the non-NDA parties. The numbers in Opposition-ruled Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will also add in that candidates favour. However, Naveen Patnaik remains the only grey area as he is non-committal. Sources also said that Prashant Kishor recently met Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recently. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishors meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi is being seen as an ice-breaker. Prashant Kishors meeting with Rahul Gandhi lasted for almost two hours on Tuesday. As per Prashant Kishors calculation, in case of a strong Opposition unity, they can upset the BJP and become a game-changer ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. For Prashant Kishor, who shares good personal relations with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Jagan Reddy, Arvind Kejriwal, Stalin and Uddhav Thackeray, binding the Opposition can be easier, but he needs to get the Congress onboard. Tuesdays meeting gains significance in the view that some sources indicated that Congress president Sonia Gandhi too joined Prashant Kishors meeting with Rahul Gandhi through a video-link. Priyanka Gandhi is too said to have deferred her Lucknow visit to join the Prashant Kishor-Rahul Gandhi meeting. Sources have said Prashant Kishor gave a detailed presentation to the Congress leadership about his plans and also summed up the possibilities and probabilities for the Congress in various states.