Prashant Kishor is a well-known name in India’s political circles ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. Having run the BJP’s PM campaign for Modi in the 2014 General Elections, his organization Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) has also been responsible for Janata Dal United’s (JDU) victory in Bihar. Meanwhile, I-PAC has also worked in Uttar Pradesh for Samajwadi Party’s campaign while it also helped the Congress in Punjab elections. Currently, it is working on YSR Congress’ campaign in Andhra Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
As the JDU vice-president, Prashant Kishor’s meteoric rise has been a case study for Indian political analysts and his influence in the power circles of the country. Now, he is working on another plan to ensure that some of the regional parties have a say at the Centre if the NDA falls short of the majority. According to inside reports, Prashant Kishor had suggested the Shiv Sena to continue its alliance with the BJP for General Elections. The reason behind doing so and help Sena with its campaign is that he suggested Nitish Kumar’s (Bihar CM and JDU Chief) name as the PM candidate if the BJP falls short in case of a badly hung verdict.
As a post-poll scenario analysis, Kishor is said to have told that if such a hung verdict becomes a reality, it would be difficult for the BJP to form a government at the Centre and that regional and non-NDA partners could have at least 100-120 MPs in its kitty and support someone capable like Nitish Kumar. This, according to Kishor, will also benefit regional parties looking for an alternative to Narendra Modi and national parties (non-BJP and non-Congress government at the Centre).
On the other hand, Prashant Kishor is also said to have named YSR Congress Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal and AIADMK from Tamil Nadu as the regional parties which could back Nitish’s PM-candidature. In this direction, he has sought Shiv Sena’s support. However, some Sena leaders see this as Kishor’s efforts to further strengthen the NDA government as it could be BJP’s plan B to gather regional parties’ support.
Kishor, who is known to be BJP’s backroom strategist, however, seems to have convinced the TRS and YSRCP with this move of his. Just yesterday, speaking at a meeting in Karimnagar, TRS Chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao reiterated his confidence that Federal Front has the backing on 100-120 MPs, on the lines of Prashant Kishor’s plan. Going by YSRCP-TRS alliance, it is also evident that the parties’ joint press conference reiterated that Telugu states would hold the strength of a minimum 35 MP seats, enough to influence the decision to form the government at the Centre, in case of a hung verdict in Lok Sabha polls.
Going by these strategies, it looks like Prashant Kishor the one behind YSRCP-TRS alliance suggestion or is he preparing the ground for BJP’s B-Team if the party fails to secure a majority at the center in a post-poll scenario? The verdict is open to guesswork.
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