New Delhi: A quiet meeting between Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and election strategist Prashant Kishor has reignited speculation about a possible reset in their long-fractured political relationship, especially after both suffered setbacks in the recent Bihar Assembly elections.
Sources told NDTV that Priyanka Gandhi met Kishor last week at Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence in Delhi. The meeting came in the backdrop of a disappointing Bihar verdict where Kishor’s newly launched party Jan Suraaj contested 238 seats but failed to win even one, while the Congress managed just six seats 13 fewer than its previous tally.
Publicly, both sides have played down the interaction. Asked about the meeting, Priyanka Gandhi remarked that “nobody is interested in who I meet,” while Kishor flatly denied that any such meeting took place. However, sources suggest the talks explored “possibilities”, driven by the shared realization that their current political trajectories have hit a dead end.
Kishor and the Congress share a complicated history. He successfully steered the party to victory in Punjab in 2017 but was also associated with its defeat in Uttar Pradesh the same year. Subsequent attempts to formalize his role within the Congress collapsed amid disagreements over organisational reforms and leadership control. Kishor later described his experience with the party as “bad” and openly criticised its internal culture and decision-making.
In 2022, Kishor shut the door on joining the Congress, arguing that the party lacked the collective will for deep structural reforms. He went on to form Jan Suraaj, pitching it as a platform to change Bihar’s politics by shifting focus from caste to jobs. That experiment, however, failed to translate into electoral success.
With key state elections due in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam in 2026, and Uttar Pradesh in 2027, both Kishor and the Congress appear to be reassessing past differences. Ultimately, the bigger prize remains the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, where the opposition hopes to mount a credible challenge to the BJP’s bid for a fourth consecutive term.
