‘Congress Spoiled My Track Record’: Poll Strategist Prashant Kishor in Bihar

Kishor's statement comes weeks after he rejected the grand-old party's offer to join them.

File image of Prashant Kishor.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Weeks after nearly joining Congress, political strategist Prashant Kishor said on Monday, 30 May, that he will never join the party, adding that the Congress will go down and will take everyone with them, reported NDTV.

Kishor was speaking at a gathering in Vaishaili in his home state Bihar and his statement comes weeks after he rejected the grand old party's offer to join them.

Kishor said with folded hands,

“In 2015, we won Bihar. In 2017, we won Punjab. In 2019 Jagan Mohan Reddy won in Andhra Pradesh. We won in Tamil Nadu and Bengal. In 11 years, we only lost one election... the 2017 Uttar Pradesh election. That is why I decided never to work with the Congress.”

The poll strategist said that he will not work with Congress as the party spoiled his track record. He added that Congress will never get its act together and the current leadership will “go down and take everyone with them.”

“If I go, I will also drown," he said.

The Background

After weeks of brainstorming, Prashant Kishor on 26 April declined an offer to join the Congress. Kishor stated that he had turned down the offer from the Congress as the party is in greater need of leadership and collective will to fix deep-rooted structural problems.

The grand old party, which witnessed massive losses and significant dwindling in its popularity in the recently-held Assembly elections in five states, had proposed that Kishor join its 'Empowered Action Group,' which would work on the party's campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kishor's rejection of the Congress's proposal came after a series of meetings with party president Sonia Gandhi and senior leaders in Delhi, during which a committee was formed by Gandhi to evaluate the strategist's plan and submit a report.

Last year, Kishor and the Gandhis held several rounds of talks on building a consolidated front for the 2024 national election. Discussions on the poll strategist joining the party had also been held, but collapsed due to some disagreements between the two sides, Priyanka Gandhi indicated in January this year.

(With inputs from NDTV.)