Cong leaders raise concerns as Prashant Kishor's I-PAC signs deal with TRS

This arrangement with the TRS may come as a roadblock for Kishor's entry into the Congress as the party is seeking to wrest power from the TRS in Telangana

Prashant Kishor-founded I-PAC's tie-up with the ruling TRS in Telangana for the next year's assembly polls amid his talks with the Congress over his induction has raised concerns among top leaders of the opposition party and they are expected to seek answers from the poll strategist before a final call is taken on his entry.

Congress sources said on Monday the eight-member group constituted by party president Sonia Gandhi to formulate its poll strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls after Kishor's presentation took serious note of the poll arrangement signed by I-PAC with the TRS for the assembly elections.

Some have noted there will be a conflict of interest in the Congress going ahead with having any poll arrangement with Kishor, they added.

Kishor is keen to join the Congress and has expressed his willingness to do so without any expectations, but senior party leaders expressed doubts over the commitment of the poll strategist since he has agreements to support rivals in West Bengal, Bihar and Telangana.

Though the I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee) has signed an agreement for providing poll strategy to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Kishor has been insisting he is no longer associated with it.

This arrangement with the TRS has come as a roadblock for Kishor and his entry into the Congress, as the party is seeking to wrest power from the TRS in the southern state.

Some senior leaders present during Monday's meeting with Sonia Gandhi discussed the issue and raised their concerns and are learnt to have told the leadership to seek answers from Kishor.

Sources said the Congress leadership will seek answers from Kishor and confront him over the development before moving ahead with any future poll arrangement or his inclusion in the party.

TRS Working President and state Minister KT Rama Rao replied in the affirmative when asked by reporters if the I-PAC and not Kishor would work with his party.

The TRS would work with the I-PAC to complement the party's efforts to reach out to the electorate, especially the young ones, party sources said in Hyderabad.

The I-PAC is working with multiple parties in the country, they said.

Earlier, on Saturday and Sunday, Kishor held talks with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in Hyderabad over the current political situation during which the political strategist is understood to have submitted the details of the surveys done by his team in Telangana.

BJP spokesperson in Telangana, Krishna Saagar Rao said it is almost official now that the TRS and Congress would be in a pre-poll alliance in the state.

"Yesterday's meeting between CM KCR and Prashant Kishor and their subsequent statements have established that this alliance is firmed up between KCR and Sonia Gandhi," he said in a statement.

BJP would be fighting "TRS and Congress alliance" in the next elections, he said.

"This uncouth, corrupt and opportunistic alliance will be rejected by the people of Telangana."

Hitting out at Kishor, the BJP leader alleged that the election strategist "is a chronic flirter of multiple parties and ideologies".

Meanwhile, AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana and MP Manickam Tagore put out a tweet, apparently referring to the latest developments, saying "never trust someone who is friends with your enemy". "Is it correct?" he asked.

Chandrasekhar Rao had said in March that Kishor is working with him on bringing a 'parivartan' (change) in the entire country and that both were working together in Telangana also.

Rao had also described Kishor as his best friend for the last seven-eight years and praised the latter for his commitment to a cause.