Prashant Kishor has declined to join the Congress
Election strategist Prashant Kishor today said he has declined the Congress's invitation to join the party. The development brings to an end several rounds of talks Mr Kishor has had with the Congress leadership in the last two weeks.
Here's your 5-point cheatsheet to this big story:
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala earlier today said party chief Sonia Gandhi has formed an "empowered action group" for the 2024 general elections, and invited Mr Kishor to join the party as part of the group with defined responsibility. "...We appreciate his efforts and suggestion given to party," Mr Surjewala tweeted.
Mr Kishor, in his presentation to the Congress leadership, suggested the party should fight alone in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, and it should form alliances in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra, which Rahul Gandhi agreed. Mr Kishor is learnt to have said the Congress should focus on 370 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.
"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," Mr Kishor tweeted, referring to the empowered action group, or EAG.
There was big resistance from a section of leaders on Mr Kishor being invited to join the Congress, not just on ideological grounds, but also over his links to political rivals like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Congress sources indicated a trust deficit on both sides, saying Mr Kishor did not appear wholly on board during last week's meeting with Sonia Gandhi and the eight-member special team she formed to discuss the issue.
Post a comment