New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi had "on day one" predicted that Prashant Kishor won't join the Congress and many leaders felt that the strategist wanted to "use the Congress" for leverage with other parties, party sources told NDTV on Wednesday. The doubts and misgivings were mutual, countered sources close to Prashant Kishor.
Prashant Kishor was offered the functional responsibility of election management in the Empowered Congress Committee two days ago.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday declined the Congress's offer to join it and evolve its poll strategy and said more than him, the party needs leadership and collective will to fix deep-rooted structural problems by carring out transformational reforms.
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 upcoming polls.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Kishor declined the offer, adding the party appreciates his efforts and suggestions.
Party insiders say the reason behind Kishor not joining the Congress is his company I-PAC's tie-up with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for assembly polls in Telangana which was viewed as 'conflict of interest' by the party leadership.
Within a few minutes of the Congress saying that Kishor has declined its offer, he took to Twitter and said the party needs a collective will to fix deep-rooted structural problems through 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.
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 on which its top leaders deliberated upon during the last week.
"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.
Though the party did not say anything officially, sources say 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.
Soon after the development, former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu met him and shared a picture with him saying "old friends are the best".
"Had a wonderful meeting with my old friend PK . Old wine, Old gold and Old friends still the best!!!" Sidhu said on Twitter, sharing his picture with Kishor.
In a cryptic tweet, Congress leader Milind Deora said, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows ~ Bob Dylan".
Suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha also hit out at the Congress leadership for "scuttling" changes in the grand old party.
"A cabal of political entrepreneurs around Rahul Gandhi is responsible for scuttling change in the Congress. #PK," he said on Twitter.
Kishor had made a detailed presentation before top Congress leaders, which was discussed at length by senior leadership of the party, after which an offer was made to him.
He was present during several rounds of deliberations over his plan for 2024 elections, after which Sonia Gandhi decided to constitute an Empowered Action Group to evolve a comprehensive strategy for the party for upcoming elections.
Kishor has been engaged by Mamata Banerjee's TMC in West Bengal as well as Nitish Kumar's JD-U in Bihar for election management.
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