Political strategist Prashant Kishor has turned down the Congress’ offer to join the party as a member of its Empowered Action Group. Speculations were high that Kishor would join hands with the India’s grand old party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“I declined the generous offer of #congress to join the party as part of the EAG & 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,” Kishor said in a tweet.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also announced Kishor’s decision to decline the offer to join the party. “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,” he tweeted.

The action group was constituted to address the “political challenges” faced by Congress ahead of the 2024 national elections. Kishor was offered a slot in the group which he declined to join.

Kishor had a series of meetings with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the party’s top leaders, followed by several internal meetings. The strategist presented various detailed presentations related to his plans to revive Congress for the upcoming General election.

The decision to induct Kishor into the party was substantially opposed by a section of leaders including Mukul Wasnik, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala. They showed resistance to Kishor’s links with Congress’ political rivals such as Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Sources said Kishor’s rejuvenation plan for Congress was not accepted positively due to the party’s long-established way of functioning. However, some of the party’s heavyweights including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi and Ambika Soni favoured his entry but failed to persuade the senior leaders.