Congress leaders have expressed hope that 'Chintan Shivir' will revive the party after talks with the political strategist Prashant Kishor failed on Tuesday. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who was part of the deliberations, said: "It is ultimately the Congress which has to move and put it's House in Order. Consultant or no Consultant!!I have a strong hunch that the Chintin Shivir would lead to bring in a New Congress which is the need of the hour." The 'Chintan Shivir' is scheduled from May 13 in Udaipur where around 400 delegates will participate from across the country. The party has constituted six sub-groups to prepare an agenda for the event.
On Tuesday, the Congress and Prashant Kishor parted ways after hectic parleys for two weeks gave rise to speculation that the ace election strategist might join the grand-old party. Sources in the Congress say that Kishor wanted sweeping powers and a free hand in election management, but the party wanted a group of leaders to oversee the 2024 general elections. Several Congress leaders were reportedly of the opinion that no consultant should get the power to run the whole show. According to the sources, the working style of the Congress was different and the party can't be run from a single window due to which Sonia Gandhi had invited Kishor to join the Empowered Action Group for 2024 polls. Rahul Gandhi was also not keen on giving power to any one person, they said.
Soon after declining Congress' offer to join the party on Tuesday, Kishor said that the party needs 'leadership' and 'collective will' to fix deep-rooted structural problems. "I declined the generous offer of #Congress to join the party as part of the EAG & take responsibility for the elections," Kishor tweeted. "In my humble opinion, more than me, the party needs leadership and collective will to fix the deep-rooted structural problems through transformational reforms," he added.