Prashant Kishor declines Congress offer, says 'party needs collective will to fix problems'

New Delhi: After hefty parleys between him and Congress that stretched for several days, election strategist Prashant Kishor has decided not to join the party.

"Following a presentation and discussions with Prashant Kishor, Congress President has constituted an Empowered Action Group 2024 & invited him to join the party as part of the group with defined responsibility. He declined. We appreciate his efforts & suggestion given to party," Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala tweeted on Tuesday.

Following Surjewala's tweet, Prashant Kishor also announced his decision and said the Congres needed leadership more than they need him. "I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the EAG & 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," read his tweet.

Kishor was keen to join the Congress and had desired to do so without any expectations. He had also made a presentation to the party which was deliberated by top leaders during the last week. Reports quoting sources 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 a conflict of interest.

The important development came a day after Sonia Gandhi decided to set up the expert panel which would plan the strategy for the 2024 national elections as well as the state elections that will take place before that. Assembly elections are lined up in Gujarat later this year and in 2023 in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The buzz over PK started on April 16 when he made a detailed presentation before Sonia and selected senior leaders on how to revive the grand old party ahead of 2024 when the Congress hopes to take on the BJP. Surjewala was part of the eight-member group that had been set up by Sonia to review the revival plan suggested by Kishor. The other members included AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Ambika Soni, Jairam Ramesh, Digvijay Singh, KC Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik. The panel submitted its report on April 21, which was discussed by Sonia on Monday.

Sonia also named six panels which will prepare detailed reports on various issues and lead discussions on the topic at the three-day Chintan Shivir to be held in Rajasthan’s Udaipur from May 13-15. Mallikarjun Kharge will head the political group, P Chidambaram the economy group, Salman Khurshid the group on social justice and empowerment, Mukul Wasnik on organization and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Warring on youth and empowerment.

The broad focus of the Nav Sankalp Shivir would be to frame a strategy for the 2024 national elections and take stock of the current political, social and economic challenges in the country. Over 400 party leaders from across the country are expected to brainstorm during the three-day session on issues like trampling upon the rights of the weaker sections, youth and students, women and restructuring the party organization.

The brainstorming session has been called for after the party’s poor show in the five recent assembly polls. The party at present rules only in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and shares power in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The focus would be on restrengthening the Congress and forging alliances with like-minded parties to jointly take on the BJP in 2024.