A fresh love affair between the Congress and poll strategist Prashant Kishor has ended on a bitter note.

The proposed deal between the two sides was called off after Kishor declined Congress president Sonia Gandhi's offer to join the grand old party as a member of the ‘Empowered Action Group 2024’, a panel set up to formulate campaign strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections, with defined responsibility.

Apparently, he was offered the post of a general secretary but he wanted to be the vice-president and had set a condition that he would report only to the Congress chief.

The announcements came a day after the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), founded by Kishor, sealed the deal with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao or KCR, an arch-rival of the Congress in Telangana.

This development came amid discussions between Kishor and the Congress leadership over his plan to revive the grand old party and also on his role in the organisation.

About nine months ago, Kishor had for the first time expressed his desire to join the Congress. But there was a lot of resistance from some senior leaders who told both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that Kishor is a “trojan horse” who will be of no benefit to the party but would instead build his career in politics.

After he failed to get an entry into the Congress, Kishor went all guns blazing against the Gandhis, and even persuaded Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to venture into Goa. The Trinamool Congress ended up hurting the prospects of the Congress by dividing the anti-BJP votes.

Kishor’s deal with the TRS had not gone down well with many Congress leaders, including Manickam Tagore. “Is it correct? Never trust someone who is friends with your enemy,” he tweeted.

A section in the Congress was quick to point out a statement by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who while removing Kishor from the post of the Janata Dal (United) vice-president had claimed that it was Amit Shah who had recommended the poll strategist for induction in his party.