Prashant Kishor declines Congress offer to join 'empowered group' for 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor (File image)

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has declined the Congress' offer to join the party's "empowered action group" for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying that the party needs a "leadership" more than him.

"I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the EAG and take responsibility for the elections," Kishor said.

"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.

The setting up of empowered group was announced by the Congress on April 25, following a series of meetings between Kishor and senior leaders including party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.

Gandhi, who constituted the high-powered panel with an eye on the next general elections, had "invited Kishor to join the party", Congress' national spokesperson Surjewala said.

"He declined. We appreciate his efforts and suggestion given to party," Surjewala added.

Following a presentation & discussions with Sh. Prashant Kishor, Congress President has constituted a Empowered Action Group 2024 & invited him to join the party as part of the group with defined responsibility. He declined. We appreciate his efforts & suggestion given to party.

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 26, 2022

Kishor, 45, is considered as the architect of several successful electoral campaigns over the past decade. He was associated with BJP stalwart Narendra Modi's maiden prime ministerial run in 2014, JD(U) patriarch Nitish Kumar's bid to retain chief ministership in Bihar in 2015, YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy's quest to wrest power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019 and, most recently, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's campaign to win the third consecutive assembly elections in West Bengal in 2021.

Kishor began holding talks with the Congress since early April, weeks after the grand old party suffered a rout in the recently held five-state assembly elections.

Reports citing party sources claimed that Kishor gave a presentation to the Congress leadership, asking them to focus on around 370 seats for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and enter into strategic alliances in regions where they lack electoral base.

This was followed by at least two more meetings between Kishor and Gandhi, held last week at the latter's 10, Janpath residence.

Kishor has had meetings with the Gandhi family in 2020 as well on a possible tie-up for 2024, the strategist had revealed last year. But the talks did not sail through due to "differences" between the two sides, he had said.