Election strategist Prashant Kishor wants JDU party worker to become “eyes and ears” of the government

New JD(U) national vice-president and election strategist Prashant Kishor has said that he will contest neither Lok Sabha elections nor vie for a Rajya Sabha seat, according to party leaders. Holding his first political meeting with about 300 office-bearers of JD(U)’s student and youth wings after getting the senior party post, Kishor is learnt to have said that he is looking at strengthening the party’s organisational base.

According to sources Kishor may introduce 25-30 new faces in 2020 Bihar Assembly polls.

Prashant Kishor was appointed vice-president of the Janata Dal (United) on October 16 by its chief Nitish Kumar. Kishor, an election strategist who founded the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), had returned to the fold of the party on September 16. The appointment makes him the second most powerful person in the JD(U), after Nitish himself.

Born in 1977, Kishor is a public health expert. Before making a name for himself in politics, he had spent eight years working at the United Nations. He is credited for helping Narendra Modi-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) win an absolute majority in the 2014 general elections. This was Kishor’s second association with the BJP after successfully devising their campaign for the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections which saw Modi becoming chief minister for the third time.

His work with the BJP during the Gujarat elections of 2012, and during the 2014 general elections had earned him the phrase of being the “most trusted strategist in the Narendra Modi organisation.”