Poll strategist Prashant Kishor turns down an offer to join Congress

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has turned down an offer to join the Congress, party leader and spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said hours after Kishor was invited to join the Empowered Action Group (EAG) 2024, to work as part of a team ahead of the general elections 2024. With this, one chapter in the history of India’s oldest political party appears to have ended.

“Following a presentation and discussions with (Prashant) Kishor, Congress president has constituted an EAG 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,” tweeted Surjewala on Tuesday.

Kishor confirmed he had turned the proposal down. In a tweet posted on his official account, Kishor said: “I declined the generous offer of the 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.”

The proposal to rope Kishor into the Congress was enthusiastically backed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, but supporters within the party owing allegiance to Rahul Gandhi were less than enthusiastic about it, possibly worried that their own turf would be severely curtailed.

Former chief minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan said: “When Kishor met me, he said he was almost ready to join the Congress party but his conditions were that Rahul should not be associated with the party: he can be associated with parliamentary work if he wants to be a future prime minister. But not both.”

Chavan said that would never have happened because control of the party represented control of a revenue flow which no president could afford to give up.

Others in the party said although Rahul was abroad, leaders in Delhi were in live contact with him on the phone. “He (Rahul) didn’t agree to it” was the terse comment of another leader.

Rahul returns to Delhi on May 6 and goes to Karnataka where the Bharatiya Janata Party government under Basavaraj Bommai is facing challenges.

Earlier in April, Kishor made a presentation to the Congress’ top leadership on the changes that the party should effect to become more efficient. This document is yet to be authenticated by Kishor, but is in public domain (leaked mostly by interested Congress members to some of whom it represents an existential political threat). It suggested paring Rahul’s role in running the organisation and the appointment of a non-Gandhi as party president.

To deal with this level of disruption via broader consultation, Sonia Gandhi set up an eight-member group which presented a report on it to her on Monday. “Apparently, there were differences of opinion among the eight members. The Karnataka group said ‘we will not take directions from Kishor’. The Kerala group was not happy,” said a leader.

But leaders said even though Kishor has tried to distance himself from his political consultancy I-PAC, the company signed a contract with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekhar Rao. This party is in direct competition with the Congress in Telangana. So Kishor’s primary loyalty itself was suspect.

“You can’t be a member of one party and advise another party which is in direct competition with the Congress,” said a leader.

“Priyanka wanted Kishor’s political advice, Rahul was cold to it, and Sonia wanted to convey the impression that something is happening because all of us told her, after the Uttar Pradesh elections, that you have to do something: this state of affairs cannot go on, the party is completely demoralised,” said leaders.

Party leaders agree that now, for the party reeling from serial electoral debacles, it is back to the drawing board. The Congress will meet in Udaipur, they said, and once again there will be a concerted attempt to make him party president. But this time, there could be some changes.

Conversation on these changes has now begun within the party.

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