Prashant Kishor may return to Team Modi for 2019
Poll strategist played key role in putting BJP in power in 2014.
Hyderabad: After parting ways with the BJP and working for regional parties like the YSRC and JDU while ensuring the latter's 'friendship' with the saffron outfit, popular poll strategist Prashant Kishor is all set to move to his parent party before the 2019 elections.
Mr Kishor is credited with playing a key role in bringing the BJP to power at the Centre in the 2014 elections.
Sources in the BJP said Mr Kishor was in touch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah and offered to work for the party for 2019 polls and help it to retain power.
After the BJP’s victory in 2014, Mr Kishor had a major fall out with Mr Modi and Mr Shah amid speculations that they refused to accept his demand for a plum post in the BJP. “Kishor met the PM and Amit Shah on several occasions recently and discussed the party’s strategy for the upcoming elections. This shows there is consensus among the three on working together again for 2019 elections,” sources added.
After quitting BJP, Mr Kishore joined hands with the Mahagathban-dhan (Grand Alliance) led by Nitish-Lalu combine for the 2015 Bihar assembly elections and then with the YSRC in 2017. Party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy personally introduced Mr Kishore to party leaders and cadre during the party’s plenary in June 2017. While Mr Kishor’s strategy proved a grand success for the JDU in Bihar, it did not work well for the YSRC either in Nandyal bypoll or in the corporation elections in AP.
Meanwhile, none of the BJP leaders were willing to come on record on this matter, saying that the discussions were only in the nascent stage. A party leader said on condition of anonymity, “Nothing has been finalised yet. We were informed that the discussions are on and the national leadership is yet to take a decision on engaging the services of Mr Kishor for the 2019 polls.”
Even the Indian Politi-cal Action Committee, which is headed by Mr Kishor, refused to comment on the issue, saying: “Mr Kishor keeps meeting leaders from all the major parties and nothing should be made out of in his recent talks with BJP members.”