There was substantial resistance from a section of Congress leaders on Prashant Kishor's joining.
Election strategist Prashant Kishor has categorically rejected the Congress offer to join the party as part of its "Empowered Action Group", bringing to an end the months-long negotiations to rejuvenate the grand old party.
Sources indicated five key reasons why the talks broke down:
Prashant Kishore wanted a free hand to bring in big bang reforms which the Congress was not comfortable with. The party, instead, offered him a position in a committee tasked with strategizing for the 2024 elections.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her daughter and senior party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backed Mr Kishor. Rahul Gandhi was reluctant, sources indicated.
The Congress had trust issues about Prashant Kishor, who had crafted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign for the 2014 general elections.
A section in the Congress cited what they called Mr Kishor's lack of "ideological" commitment, pointing to the IPAC's deal with Telangana's ruling party. Mr Kishor now has no formal links with IPAC, the organisation he once founded.
The Congress veterans are resistant to change, sources also said. Mr Kishor's plans for the party's rejuvenation apparently included a leadership revamp, under which all but mass leaders would be sidelined. That would include most leaders in key teams, including the Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body.
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