Prashant Kishor: Congress Chintan Shivir a failure; party headed for rout in Gujarat and HP

The meeting accomplished little purpose other than to buy time for the Congress leadership, Kishor tweeted.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday launched a new attack on the Congress party and tweeted about its recent 'Chintan Shivir,' or brainstorming session. Kishor named the 'Chintan Shivir' a failure, as it gave some time to the leadership, at least until the impending electoral rout in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Kishor, who was involved in heated negotiations with the Grand Old Party earlier this month amid talk of joining them, left the party earlier this month, noting that the party, more than him, needed leadership and collective will to address deep-rooted structural problems through transformational reforms. 

Kishor had sought a free hand to revitalise the Congress, but some leaders were wary of him and his ties to other political parties.

Later, the strategist decided to start fresh in Bihar, launching his 'Jan Suraaj Abhiyan' (good governance campaign) from Vaishali district on May 20, much ahead of his planned 3,000-km' padayatra' on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.

On Friday, Kishor wrote, "I've been asked several times to comment on the #UdaipurChintanShivir outcome. It failed to achieve anything meaningful, in my opinion, other than prolonging the status quo and giving the #Congress leadership some breathing room, at least until the impending electoral rout in Gujarat and HP!"

While the Congress was considering bringing Kishor on board, a group of veterans were sceptical because of his ties with several political organisations that opposed the Congress. Even the party's dissident group, known as G23, was unimpressed with Kishor's appointment, claiming that the leadership was overlooking and ignoring in-house talent in favour of someone who is not a party loyalist and works as a professional consultant.

After a series of election failures since 2014, Congress accepted certain improvements but avoided broader issues, such as a leadership reshuffle.

The poll strategist had previously been a JD(U) member but was expelled in January 2020 due to his stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act. However, in their assembly election campaigns, the Trinamool Congress, the DMK, and the Aam Aadmi Party had enlisted his help.