Election strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday declined the offer to join the Congress party and evolve its poll strategy.
Kishor was asked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to join the party and be a part of the Empowered Action Group-2024 and take care of its election strategy for the upcoming polls.
The election strategist was also keen to join the Congress and had desired to do so without any expectations. He had made a presentation to the party on which its top leaders deliberated upon during the last week.
However, the deal fell through.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Kishor declined the offer, adding the party appreciates his efforts and suggestions.
"Following 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 Twitter announcing that Kishor has declined the offer.
Minutes later, Kishor took to Twitter and said more than him, the party needs leadership and collective will to fix deep-rooted structural problems by carring out transformational reforms.
"I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the EAG and take responsibility for the elections. In my humble opinion, more than me the party needs leadership and collective will to fix the deep rooted structural problems through transformational reforms," Kishor said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, there are several reasons why Prashant Kishor refused to join Congress.
One of the reasons for this is likely to be the TRS-IPAC deal. Sources told news agency PTI that Kishor was told specifically that he cannot be associated with any other party any longer after his joining the Congress, but he still went ahead with the TRS deal.
A number of senior Congress leaders raised strong concerns over Kishor's agreement with the TRS for polls and during their meeting with Sonia Gandhi also pointed out his "conflict of interest" and "lack of commitment" towards the Congress.
Besides, Rahul Gandhi's "aloofness" could be another reason. The former Congress chief going on his scheduled trip abroad amid all this could also have played a key role in Kishor's refusal. Moreover, sources told NDTV that the election strategist didn't feel Congress and its leadership were invested enough in his suggestions, even though they appeared to support the plan.
