The meeting of popular political strategist Prashant Kishor with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi at Rahul’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday fuelled the speculations about the emergence of an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front in the country before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
There was also a strong rumour floated by the Congress circles that Sonia Gandhi had asked Prashant to join the Congress and offered a prime post in the party. There is no confirmation or denial from Prashant on this rumour.
But sources said he might join the Congress but would be interested in building up a strong anti-BJP front in which the Congress would have a major stake.
He reportedly promised to Sonia Gandhi that he would mobilise the support of neutral parties who have not been part of either NDA or UPA till now.
This led to the talk as to whether Prashant would be able to convince YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to join the anti-BJP front.
It is a known fact that Prashant played a big role in the victory of Jagan and has still been helping the AP government indirectly.
But that does not mean Jagan would simply follow whatever Prashant says. There are two reasons for Jagan rejecting Prashant’s proposal.
One: right from the beginning, he has not been evincing interest in the national politics and he wants to confine his politics to only Andhra Pradesh.
So, he doesn’t mind whichever coalition is there at the Centre – whether it is of the BJP-led NDA or a federal front or the Congress-led UPA. He has already made it clear that he would maintain working relations with the Centre in the best interest of the state.
Secondly, Jagan has a hatred towards the Congress leadership. He is one leader who doesn’t forget the people who had targeted him in the past.
It is there for everybody to see how he has been targeting the Telugu Desam Party in general and its president N Chandrababu Naidu in particular.
“So, how can he forget the way Sonia Gandhi had humiliating him and his mother after the death of his father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy? How can he forget the fact that he had to be in the jail for 16 months because of the CBI cases foisted against him by the Congress leadership?” an analyst asked.
Under any circumstances, Jagan will not join any front which has the Congress as major partner, even if Prashant Kishor tries to convince him.
“In future, if the Congress-led coalition comes to power, too, Jagan will maintain only working relations but not be a part of the Central government,” the analyst asserted.