New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): Poll analyst Prashant Kishor, giving his views on the recently concluded Congress Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir, said that the meet 'failed to achieve anything meaningful'.

New Delhi [India], April 26 (ANI): Following Prashant Kishor declining the Congress' offer to join the party, former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu met him on Tuesday and shared a picture with the caption "Old wine, Old gold and Old friends still the best".

New Delhi Apr 26 PTI Congress president Sonia Gandhi had invited poll strategist Prashant Kishor to join the party and be a part of its Empowered Action Group-2024 to evolve a strategy for the general elections but he has declined the offer the party saidCongress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Tuesday that the party appreciates his efforts and suggestionsKishor was keen to join the Congress and had desired to do so without any expectations He had also made a presentation to the party on which its top leaders deliberated upon during the last weekFollowing a presentation and discussions with Prashant Kishor the Congress president constituted the Empowered Action Group-2024 and invited him to join the party as part of the group with defined responsibility He declined We appreciate his efforts and suggestions given to the party Surjewala said on TwitterSources said the reason for his not joining the Congress was the pact signed by his company I-PAC with TRS for the Telangana assembly elections and that was viewed by the Congress leadership as conflict of interestKishor has been engaged by Mamata Banerjees TMC in West Bengal as well as Nitish Kumars JD-U in Bihar for election management PTI SKC SKC ANB ANB

New Delhi Apr 25 PTI Buffeted by a string of electoral reverses the Congress on Monday announced an empowered group will be constituted to address the political challenges ahead and prepare the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections days after deliberating on a revival plan presented by poll strategist Prashant KishorCongress President Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a Chintan Shivir a three-day brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur where party leaders from across the country will discuss internal issues confronting it and come up with solutions to galvanise the organisationGandhi also constituted six coordination panels for drafting papers and leading discussions on the issues of political and organisational importance social justice economy farmers and youth during the three-day brainstorming conclave While Mallikarjun Kharge will lead the panel on political issues Bhupinder Singh Hooda will head the committee on agriculture and farmers Mukul Wasnik will spearhead the coordination panel for organisational matters She has included many of the G 23 leaders who have been insisting on an overhaul of the organisation in these panelsCongress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters that Gandhi will constitute the Empowered Group soon to devise a comprehensive strategy for the 2024 general electionsAsked if any decision was made on Kishors induction into the party Surjewala was evasive Whenever the group is constituted you will know who is part of it he responded tersely A section of the Congress has reservations over Kishors entry into the party particularly after the Indian Political Action Committee I-PAC an organisation he founded signed an agreement with Telanganas ruling TRS for the next assembly elections The Congress has adversarial relations with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the state AICC pointsman for Telangana Manickam Tagore had reacted sharply to Kishors meeting with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and other TRS leaders on Saturday and Sunday before the deal was announced Never trust someone who is friends with your enemy Tagore tweeted on Sunday Kishor has been insisting he is no longer associated with the I-PACThe decisions by the Congress aimed at reviving the party were taken at a meeting of senior leaders who also discussed the plan presented by KishorThe Congress president received a report from the eight-member group on April 21 Today she discussed the report with the group and based on the discussions the Congress president has decided to constitute an Empowered Action Group-2024 in order to address the political challenges ahead Surjewala saidThe meeting was held at the 10 Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi where senior leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Ambika Soni K C Venugopal Surjewala Mukul Wasnik Digvijaya Singh Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram were among those presentDuring the meeting that lasted for over three hours Gandhi discussed the recommendations with the members of the groupThese eight leaders comprised the group which explored ways to revive and rejuvenate the party ahead of the assembly elections in some states and the next Lok Sabha polls and submitted their report with recommendations to the Congress president on April 21The Congress president has decided to convene the Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir of the Indian National Congress in Udaipur on May 13 14 and 15 2022 where about 400 Congressmen and women from every state will participate Surjewala saidThe focus of the deliberations will be on the current political and economic situation and the challenges they pose to our society and the nation he saidSurjewala said the Chintan Shivir will also deliberate on the broad strategy of the Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha electionsIssues relating to the welfare and well-being of farmers and farm labourers and the trampling of the rights of scheduled castes scheduled tribes OBCs religious and linguistic minorities and women social justice and empowerment and youth will also be discussed in detailIn addition matters relating to organisational restructuring and strengthening will be deliberated a party statement saidAmong the six coordination panels constituted by Sonia Gandhi for preparing background notes and leading discussions during the Chintan Shivir is the political panel headed by Kharge It includes Ghulam Nabi Azad and Shashi Tharoor the members of G 23 besides Ashok Chavan Uttam Kumar Reddy and Gaurav GogoiThe coordination panel for organisational matters has Mukul Wasnik one of the signatories to the letter written by G 23 leaders to Sonia Gandhi seeking a leadership overhaul as convener Its members include Ajay Maken Tariq Anwar Ramesh Chennithala Randeep Surjwala Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Netta Dsouza and Meenakshi Natarajan Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda another member of the G 23 has been made the convener of the coordination panel on farmers and agriculture with T S Singhdeo Shaktisinh Gohil Nana Patole Pratap Bajwa Arun Yadav Akhilesh Prasad Singh among others as membersThe panel on Economy includes P Chidambaram convener Anand Sharma Siddharamaiah Sachin Pilot Manish Tewari Rajeev Gowda while that on Social Justice has Salman Khurshid convener Meira Kumar Digivijaya Singh Kumari Selja and the committee on youth has Amarinder Singh Warring convener B V Sriniwas Neeraj Kundan Krishna Byra Gowda Krishna Allavaru among othersMany of the G 23 leaders have been adjusted in these panels including Ghulam Nabi Azad Anand Sharma Manish Tewari Shashi Tharoor and Akhilesh Prasad Singh PTI SKC ASK DV SKC SK SK