Prashant Kishor dodges Congress bullet, turns down offer to join party

More than me the party needs leadership and collective will to fix the deep rooted structural problems through transformational reforms, Kishor said

Prashant Kishor's second attempt in less than a year to join the Congress ended in a naught on Tuesday with the party making an unusual announcement of the election strategist declining to accept party chief Sonia Gandhi's invitation to join them.

The announcement came as a culmination of marathon discussions spread across several days at Sonia's residence where senior leaders deliberated upon the suggestions given by Kishor and his possible role in the party -- whether to work within the party or act as a consultant from outside.

There were differences within the Congress over his induction while Kishor said the party needed "leadership and collective will to fix the deep rooted structural problems", more than him.

Also Read — The ‘Prashant Kishor strategy’ is a tightrope walk

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, "following a presentation and discussions with Prashant Kishor, Congress President has constituted a 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 suggestion given to party."

Kishor tweeted, "I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the Empowered Action Group 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."

The Congress tweet was unusual as it gave a respectable exit for Kishor, who "declined" Sonia's offer but left many things unsaid. While it "appreciated his efforts and suggestions", it was not clear whether Kishor will continue to work for the party as a consultant.

Last July, he had expressed interest to join Congress but it could not move forward as the party was not ready to accept his demands like making him a General Secretary with the charge of election and alliances and that he would report only to the party chief.

Also Read — More than me Congress needs leadership, collective will to fix deep rooted problems: Prashant Kishor

His condition that he would not work in the elections to the five state Assemblies in February-March this year also did not find favour then.

However, in March this year after the election results were devastating for the Congress, Kishor once again approached the Congress. This time, Sonia and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were in favour of inducting Kishor.

Kishor, who insisted that he has no conditions to join the party, then made an extensive presentation on organisational restructuring and election strategy before senior leaders assigned by Sonia. An eight-member panel of senior leaders studied the proposals as well as examined what role Kishor could play in the party.

However, sources said leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh and Surjewala opposed his entry in the party, while Priyanka and Ambika Soni were supporting the idea of his induction. Senior leaders A K Antony and K C Venugopal had explained the pros and cons of such a move.

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