With high hopes to repeat the 2017 success story in Punjab, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh succeeded in inducting India’s most-sought-after political strategist Prashant Kishor in his team for his 2022 electoral campaign.
A year before Punjab goes to polls in January-February 2022, the Chief Minister on Monday announced to appoint the election strategist as his “Principal Adviser”, giving him the status of a Cabinet Minister.
“Happy to share that @PrashantKishor has joined me as my Principal Adviser. Look forward to working together for the betterment of the people of Punjab!,” Capt Amarinder broke the news on Twitter.
At present, Prashant Kishor is heading the Trinamool Congress' campaign for the 2021 West Bengal elections, his growing closeness to the party chief Mamata Banerjee becoming a sore point for many senior leaders in the party.
Kishor had first made a name for himself as a poll strategist for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden Lok Sabha election in 2014. After that, Capt Amarinder had employed Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) to handle his poll campaign in Punjab in the 2017 Assembly polls — which led to a resounding victory for the Congress in the State.
The Congress in 2017 had stormed to power by bagging 77 seats in the 117-member assembly. In fact, Kishor was the brain behind Punjab Congress programmes like “Coffee with Captain” and “Punjab Da Captain” to drum up support for the party.
Last year, Kishor had reportedly told Capt Amarinder that he would be “quite happy” in handling the election campaign of the Congress in Punjab for the 2022 Assembly polls.
“Before the Covid-19 (crisis), I met him (Kishor). I did ask him are you interested (in handling the Punjab Congress campaign). He was very interested,” the Chief Minister had stated in June 2020.
Prashant Kishor has become a much sought after figure for most non-BJP parties to bolster their chances of winning elections. He has previously handled election campaigns for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav.
He also assisted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and joined the JDU but quit the party later over differences. He has also worked on various election campaigns for the Congress.
The 2022 Punjab elections will be crucial for all players involved as the months-long protest against the farm laws have had a huge impact on the politics of the State.
The Congress' support for the farmers' protest helped it sweep the recent urban body polls in Punjab — winning six municipal corporations, emerging as the largest party in the seventh and bagging most of the 109 municipal council and nagar panchayats.