Is the Congress banking on wrong candidates in its fight against the BJP at the national level? On Friday, two of its blue-eyed boys criticized the party and its actions. Firstly, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was specially picked and appointed the Punjab State Congress Committee chief expressed his dissatisfaction at the way things were going on in Punjab. Then Prashant Kishor, who was expected to join the Congress soon  said the Congress has deep-rooted and structural problems. He even questioned the party’s strategy on the Lakhimpur Kheri episode.

Navjot Sindh was to start a rally from Amritsar to Lakhimpur Kheri. However, the chief minister came late to the venue. Angered by this , Sidhu screamed “where is the Congress? It is dead. There is no party.”  He also said that had he been made the CM, the situation would have been different. These comments have shown that Sidhu is not happy with the high command and that all is still not well in the Congress Party.

At about the same time, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who is now advising the Congress on taking on the BJP tweeted saying: People looking for a quick, spontaneous revival of GOP led opposition based on #LakhimpurKheri incident are setting themselves up for a big disappointment. Unfortunately there are no quick fix solutions to the deep-rooted problems and structural weakness of the GOP. The GOP referred to the Grand Old Party, which is the Congress Party.

The Congress found itself on the defensive and did not know how to react to Prashant Kishor. The confusion in the Congress party was there before the full public view.