Are Congress, Prashant Kishore about to part ways?

There is renewed uncertainty over election strategist Prashant Kishore’s continuation with the Congress. Kishore, who is looking after Congress electoral campaign in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, is said to be disillusioned with the grand old party’s style of functioning. The delay in Rahul Gandhi formally taking over the Congress, AICC treasurer Motilal Vora’s reported reluctance in clearing I-PAC bills (Kishore’s cross party advocacy group) and the Congress’s poor poll prospects in Uttar Pradesh are said to be some key factors responsible for his sense of disillusionment. There is no official word either from the Congress or Team Prashant Kishore over prospects of the poll strategist giving up his involvement with the Congress.  At the same time, there is no denial of numerous obstacles that Kishore is reportedly facing from the wise and old of the Congress. Sample this: When Kishore reportedly tried to get some of I-PAC bills cleared from AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, the octogenarian leader did some maths and cut the expenses figure to half. There was another drastic reduction and the payment was reportedly promised in instalments. It is an open fact that Congress coffers are now near empty and the party is struggling to meet its daily expenses. At a political level, Kishore is said to be facing resistance from all key players in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Captain Amarinder Singh and Raj Babbar. The actor-turned-Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar had told ABP News recently that Kishore was merely a "sound recordist." Babbar had told anchor Dibang while participating in ABP News’s weekly show Press Conference, “He (Prashant Kishore) is merely a sound recordist. When the voice pitch goes up or down, he adjusts it. He is not my leader...My leader is Rahul Gandhi." Informed sources said the Congress leadership chose to ignore Babbar's pronouncement while Kishore was expecting some kind of of reprimand administrated to the actor. It is being said that the Uttar Pradesh political turf is proving to be a lot more tricky than Kishore had anticipated. The Congress continues to be almost non-existent at the grassroots. Kishore's call to entrust 20 young Congress leaders in every Assembly constituency has not taken off on ground simply because the party does not have so many dedicated and efficient workers.  The concept of identifying one “dynamic and young leader” in each of over 1.25 lakh polling booths in the State is equally challenging to implement for want of talent. After the Uri attack and the surgical strikes in PoK, the impact of Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra is dwindling simply because much of the AICC vice-president’s line of attack was focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi than Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav or BSP supremo Mayawati. The success of surgical strikes in PoK has created a euphoria of sorts across the country. So when Rahul took a detour from his usual narrative and said, "When the Prime Minister does the job a PM is supposed to do, I support him. I want to congratulate him," his subsequent criticism of Modi regime sounded hollow. Privately, many Congressmen considered close to Rahul insist that Kishore will continue at least till Uttar Pradesh and Punjab polls. The question is whether Kishore and I-PAC who have not tasted defeat since 2014, will take risk of failure or pull a fast one? Only time will tell. Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.