Prashant Kishor has recently given a detailed presentation for the 2024 elections to the Congress and sources say he may also join the party
File image of Prashant Kishor. Reuters
Prashant Kishor, the name synonymous with elections in India, and a kingmaker in very real terms, is back in news as Indian National Congress asks the election strategist to join the party and not work as a consultant.
According to sources, Kishor has shown interest in Congress and has given a detailed presentation of the party’s weaknesses and what needs to be done for improvement, after meeting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
As per ANI, Kishor suggested Congress should contest elections alone in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, and should form alliances in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra, which Rahul Gandhi agreed.
Here’s a look at the star political strategist’s career and his almost 100 per cent track record of helping political parties gain victory at elections.
2014 Lok Sabha elections
Prashant Kishor came into public limelight in 2014, when he created the election campaign group Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party win the 2014 Lok Sabha election with an absolute majority. From creating innovative advertising campaigns for PM Modi, such as Chai pe Charcha, 3D rallies, Run for Unity, Manthan, and other social media programmes to making a brand for himself, Kishor’s success in 2014 is a text book with all things right for any political strategist.
However, even after the landslide victory, Kishor fell out with BJP and joined hands with Nitish Kumar in Bihar. Kishor parted ways with Modi and converted CAG into a specialist policy outfit, Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). Sources say, Kishor’s relationship with Amit Shah and their mutual disdain between each other resulted in unceremonious eviction of Kishor as BJP’s political strategist.
2015 Bihar Assembly election
Nitish Kumar and his party JDU worked with Kishor in a bid to win a third term as Chief Minister of Bihar. I-PAC influenced the strategy, resources and alliances for the poll campaign of Kumar and on winning the Bihar elections, Kumar named Kishor as his advisor for planning and programme implementation.
However, later he fell out with Kumar over the JD(U)’s decision to support the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act, and was eventually expelled from the JD(U) for being openly critical of the party.
2017 Punjab Assembly election
In 2016 Kishor was hired by the Congress for Punjab Assembly Elections for Amarinder Singh’s campaign, who had lost two earlier elections. However, Kishor’s strategies worked magic and Singh even openly credited Kishor for the win, tweeting, “As I have said many times before, PK & his team and their work was absolutely critical to our victory in Punjab!”
2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election
Till now, the only time Kishor’s strategy failed has been the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election when he worked with Indian National Congress. The poll strategist made some disastrous calls — from declaring Sheila Dikshit as the CM face to overusing Rahul Gandhi — but didn’t manage to help the grand old party losing elections for the past 27 years come to power. As Kishor’s career graph shows, he does well when he is with the winning side, garnishing their victory with his razor-sharp touch, however fails to bring a losing side to the victory and even quite easily sheds off responsibility as he had done for Rahul Gandhi.
2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election
Kishor returned to the winning side with YS Jaganmohan Reddy in 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, where he was appointed as the advisor and I-PAC designed and executed a series of electoral campaigns for YSRCP. ‘Samara Sankharavam’, ‘Anna Pilupu’, and the ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ worked wonders when YSRCP won with a large majority of 151 seats out of 175 seats and came to power.
2020 Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections
Kishor was the poll strategist for Aam Aadmi Party in 2020 Delhi Assembly election, helping AAP win with a sweeping majority of 62 out of 70 seats. Jitan Ram Manjhi, Upendra Kushwaha and Mukesh Sahni met Kishor seeking help for Bihar Assembly election 2020. While Kishor refused to support any party, he promoted Baat Bihar Ki campaign that aimed at making Bihar one of the 10 best states in India.
2021 West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections
Kishor was appointed as an advisor of All India Trinamool Congress for the 2021 West Bengal elections and his strategy helped TMC for government again in WB, defeating BJP who had built a strong opposition.
TMC MP and veteran leader Sougata Roy told the Print that Kishor played a key role in ensuring the party’s decisive victory. “Prashant Kishor set the Trinamool Congress house in order and leveraged Mamata Banerjee’s popularity among the people,” Roy said. Kishor and his team, he added, not only designed some of the popular schemes that the Trinamool Congress launched in the last two years but also came up with catchy slogans like ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’ and ‘Banglar Garbo Mamata (Bengal’s pride Mamata)’ that resonated with the people of the state. His team, in coordination with Abhishek Banerjee also gave crucial feedback about party candidates, which helped during candidate selection, Roy said.
However, sources say, Mamata Banerjee’s close aide Suvendhu Adhikari’s leaving TMC and subsequently joining of BJP and even contesting election from Nandigram against Mamata is a result of a rift created by I-PAC’s interference in TMC’s internal politics. Kishor’s closeness with Mamata’s nephew Abhishek is a well-known fact and I-PAC is now even taking care of all poll strategies of TMC outside Bengal which included recently-concluded Goa Assembly elections. Mamata’s national ambitions have been handed over to Kishor, but how that pans out is what all political strategists are eager to follow.
Kishor did his magic again in Tamil Nadu, where DMK chief MK Stalin won elections and became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.
After the win of TMC and DMK in 2021 Assembly polls, Kishor declared that he was quitting as a poll strategist. “I do not want to continue what I am doing. I have done enough. Time for me to take a break and do something else in life. I want to quit this space,” said Kishor to a TV channel. However, will Kishor’s return to, what he does best, resurrect Congress in the national political scene? That, only time will say.
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