Prashant Kishor Explained

Prashant Kishor
Office:Founder of Jan Suraaj
Termstart:2 October 2022
Termend:Present
Predecessor:Position established
Office2:Vice President of Janata Dal (United)
Termstart2:16 October 2018
Termend2:29 January 2020
Predecessor2:Uday Narayan Choudhary
Successor2:Lalan Singh
Birth Name:Prashant Kishor Pandey
Birth Place:Konar, Bihar, India
Spouse:Jahnavi Das
Children:1
Occupation:Political Strategist and Tactician
Party:Jan Suraaj
(2022-present)
Janata Dal (United)
(2018–2020)

Prashant Kishor Pandey,[1] [2] colloquially known as PK, is an Indian political strategist and tactician.[3] He worked in public health[4] programmes funded by the United Nations for eight years before venturing into Indian politics and working as a political strategist.[5] [6]

Kishor has worked as a political strategist for BJP to gain his knowledge then he worked for the BJP, JD(U), INC, AAP, YSRCP, DMK and TMC.[7] [8] [9] His first major political campaign was in 2011 to help Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat get re-elected to the CM Office for a third time in the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012.[10] [11] However, he came to wider public attention when Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), an election-campaign group he conceptualised, helped the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win an absolute majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[12]

Personal life and career

Kishor was born to Shrikant Pandey, a physician and Sushila Pandey, a homemaker.[13] [14] [15] He hails from the Konar village, Sasaram of Rohtas district, Bihar, India. He later moved to Buxar, Bihar where he completed his secondary education.[16] [6] Kishor is married to Jahnavi Das, a physician hailing from Guwahati, Assam, with whom he has a son.[17] [18]

Reportedly working pro bono, and without holding any office in the BJP or Gujarat Government, Kishor was employed as a political strategist for BJP's pre-election campaign.[19] He was employed as the political strategist of Janata Dal (United) on 16 September 2018, and as the vice-president of the party a month later on 16th October.[20]

Work as a political strategist

In 2013, Kishor co-founded Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), a media and publicity company in preparation for the May 2014 general election of India, with Robbin Sharrma and others.[21] [22] [23] Kishor and his team were credited with formulating an innovative marketing and advertising campaign for Narendra Modi— the Chai Pe Charcha discussions,[24] 3D rallies, Run for Unity, Manthan and several social media programmes.[25]

In 2015, Kishor and other CAG members regrouped as I-PAC to work with Nitish Kumar, in a bid to win a third term as Chief Minister in the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[26] The claims were that Kishor dramatically influenced the strategy, resources and alliances for the campaign.[27] [28] Upon winning the Bihar elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar named Kishor as his advisor for planning and programme implementation, with a brief look for ways to implement the seven-point agenda that was promised during Kumar's election campaign.[29] [30] In 2020, Kishor was involved with the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[31] [32]

In 2016 the Indian National Congress employed Kishor for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. However, these elections were a failure for Congress and Kishor as BJP won more than 300 seats and Congress could only manage 7 seats. This was also the first time Kishor failed to help a party win the elections.[33]

Kishor has successfully worked with several other political parties in India as well including Amarinder Singh for the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election,[34] [35] [36] Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election,[37] Arvind Kejriwal for the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election,[38] Mamata Banerjee for the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election,[39] [40] and M. K. Stalin for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election as well.[41]

Retirement from political strategy

After the win of the AITC in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and DMK in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, Kishor declared that he was quitting as an election strategist.[42] In an interview with NDTV on 2 May 2021, Kishor told anchor Sreenivasan Jain on live TV, "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."[42]

Jan Suraaj

See main article: Jan Suraaj. A year later on 2 May 2022, Kishor hinted toward the formation of a political outfit of his own with a tweet that said that it was time to go to the "Real Masters, The People" and on the path of "Jan Suraaj-Peoples Good Governance"[43] —similar to his last recent campaign titled "Baat Bihar Ki". After his retirement from being a political strategist, Kishor has also mulled launching a political party from his home state, Bihar.[44] Kishor later on announced a 3,000 km Padyatra which would take place across Bihar, and would involve Kishor meeting with people from all across the state.[45] The "Padyatra" is taking place under his "Jan Suraaj Padyatra" campaign. One of the stated goals of the campaign is to form a political party, which he estimates would fight its first election in the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly.[46]

Notes and References

  1. News: Mishra . Abhinandan . 15 November 2015 . Pandey will be a key man in Nitish raj . Sunday Guardian . 21 May 2024.
  2. News: Gautam . Isha . May 22, 2024. Prashant Kishor Forecasts Major Shifts in Modi Projects, Predicts BJP's Advantage In 2024 Elections . . Aug 16, 2024.
  3. News: Karthikeyan . Ragamalika . It's a win for Prashant Kishor too — but is there a 'magic touch'? . 20 March 2022 . The News Minute . 2 May 2021 . en.
  4. News: K . Sruthijith K. . Prashant Kishor: Meet the most trusted strategist in the Narendra Modi organisation . 20 March 2022 . The Economic Times . 7 October 2013.
  5. News: Election Guru Prashant Kishor Join's Nitish Kumar's JD(U) . 16 September 2018 . Headlines Today . https://web.archive.org/web/20180916172501/https://headlinestoday.org/national/bihar/2852/election-guru-prashant-kishor-joins-nitish-kumars-jdu/ . 16 September 2018 . dead .
  6. News: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor joins JD(U). Tewary. Amarnath. 16 September 2018. The Hindu. 25 September 2019. en-IN. 0971-751X.
  7. News: Prashant Kishor joins Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) . 10 March 2020 . Livemint . 16 September 2018 . en.
  8. News: Prashant Kishor becomes Advisor to Bihar CM. The Hindu. 22 January 2016. 28 January 2016. 0971-751X. en-IN.
  9. Web site: Prashant Kishor- Is He Really A Master Poll Strategist?. 5 November 2021.
  10. Web site: 'Sweet revenge': How Prashant Kishor took on mighty Modi-Shah machine & ruined BJP plans. . 2 May 2021.
  11. Web site: Prashant Kishor, the man who created Modi wave, is Nitish's deputy. 16 October 2018 .
  12. News: Meet the nonprofit whose backroom work powered Modi to victory. qz.com. Sruthijith KK. Scroll.in. 9 October 2017. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20151119214042/http://scroll.in/article/667401/meet-the-nonprofit-that-did-the-backroom-work-to-power-modi-to-victory. 19 November 2015. live.
  13. News: Part of Prashant Kishor's house in Bihar demolished for road widening project . The Hindu . PTI . February 13, 2021 . Aug 16, 2024.
  14. News: नहीं रहे प्रशांत किशोर के पिता, दिल्ली में हुआ निधन . Dainik Bhaskar . hi . 2019 . August 16, 2024.
  15. News: पिता थे कांग्रेसी, मां पॉलिटिक्स के खिलाफ और बीवी...PK की लाइफ से जुड़ी ये बातें जानते हैं आप? . ABP Live . hi . April 1, 2024 . Aug 16, 2024.
  16. Web site: JD(U) May Field Prashant guhani from Brahmin Bastion Buxar in 2019. News18. 16 September 2018. 25 September 2019.
  17. News: लेडी डॉक्टर पर दिल हार बैठे थे PK, रचाई शादी, जानिए कौन हैं प्रशांत किशोर की पत्नी . 24 June 2022 . Jansatta . 15 June 2021 . hi.
  18. News: बिहार से राजनीति में कदम रखने वाले प्रशांत किशोर के बारे में यह बातें नहीं जानते होंगे आप . 24 June 2022 . Amar Ujala . 16 September 2018 . hi.
  19. News: Prashant Kishor: Meet the most trusted strategist in the Narendra Modi organisation. K. Sruthijith K.. 7 October 2013. The Economic Times. 10 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171010111449/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/prashant-kishor-meet-the-most-trusted-strategist-in-the-narendra-modi-organisation/articleshow/23614928.cms?intenttarget=no. 10 October 2017. live.
  20. News: Prashant Kishor is JD(U) vice-president . The Hindu . October 17, 2018 . Aug 21, 2024.
  21. News: Vishnoi . Anubhuti . 7 March 2019 . Ex-Modi and Nitish campaign head joins team Priyanka Gandhi . The Economic Times . 30 October 2023 . 0013-0389.
  22. News: Vadlapatla . Sribala . 25 February 2020 . Former Prashant Kishor aide joins N Chandrababu Naidu's team as key strategist . The Times of India . 30 October 2023 . 0971-8257.
  23. News: Venugopal . Vasudha . Narendra Modi's Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG): Will it be disbanded or play bigger role? . 16 September 2018 . The Economic Times . Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd . 15 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180916130520/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/narendra-modis-citizens-for-accountable-governance-cag-will-it-be-disbanded-or-play-bigger-role/articleshow/35131371.cms . 16 September 2018 . live .
  24. News: Narendra Modi to launch 'chai pe charcha' campaign today. NDTV.com. 8 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202440/https://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/narendra-modi-to-launch-chai-pe-charcha-campaign-today-550542. 8 September 2018. live.
  25. Web site: Prashant Kishor teaming up with Modi for 2019 general elections reeks of desperation. www.dailyo.in. 8 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202403/https://www.dailyo.in/politics/prashant-kishor-modi-ghar-wapsi-bjp-lok-sabha-election-2019-congress-rahul-gandhi/story/1/22589.html. 8 September 2018. live.
  26. Web site: Prashant Kishor: Man pivot of PM Narendra Modi campaign in talks to help steer JD(U) in Bihar election . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151115205855/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-05-20/news/62413210_1_pm-narendra-modi-nitish-kumar-prashant-kishor . 15 November 2015 . 19 February 2016 . timesofindia-economictimes .
  27. Web site: Backroom boy who changed the rules . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151117151633/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151109/jsp/nation/story_52204.jsp#.VqIH_fl97VQ . 17 November 2015 . 19 November 2015.
  28. News: Thakur . Sankarshan . 23 July 2015 . Modi's ace versus Modi's ex-mace . The Telegraph . 10 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151119195824/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150723/jsp/frontpage/story_33229.jsp . 19 November 2015.
  29. News: Anuja . 22 January 2016 . Prashant Kishor appointed Nitish Kumar's advisor . . 1 October 2018.
  30. News: Manish . Sai . 11 March 2017 . Behind Congress' Punjab election win: Prashant Kishor's behind-the-scenes magic at display . Business Standard India . 29 September 2018.
  31. News: Tewary . Amarnath . 21 February 2020 . Bihar Opposition leaders meet Prashant Kishor . en-IN . The Hindu . 23 February 2020.
  32. News: Singh . Rohit Kumar . 23 February 2020 . Baat Bihar Ki: Prashant Kishor's ambitious campaign for Bihar to be launched today . en . India Today . 23 February 2020.
  33. Web site: 14 March 2017 . Prashant Kishor: Master strategist who sank the Congress ship in Uttar Pradesh – Firstpost . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170430224318/http://www.firstpost.com/politics/prashant-kishor-master-strategist-who-sank-the-congress-ship-in-uttar-pradesh-3334376.html . 30 April 2017 . 5 May 2017 . www.firstpost.com.
  34. News: How Captain Amarinder Singh Won Punjab: Here's the Inside Story . en . The Quint . live . 29 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170330003214/https://www.thequint.com/politics/2017/03/28/how-congress-campaign-won-punjab-election . 30 March 2017.
  35. News: Amarinder-Prashant Kishor 'Jodi' Ensured Congress' Punjab Comeback . en . The Quint . live . 29 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170330010532/https://www.thequint.com/punjab-elections-2017/2017/03/12/capt-amarinder-prashant-kishor-jodi-clicked-for-congress-in-punjab-rahul-gandhi-arvind-kejriwal-ipac-modi-nitish . 30 March 2017.
  36. News: The man who won Punjab: breaking down Captain Amarinder's path to victory . en . CatchNews.com . live . 29 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170330003023/http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/the-man-who-won-punjab-breaking-down-captain-amarinder-s-path-to-victory-54968.html . 30 March 2017.
  37. Web site: Nitin B. . 24 March 2019 . Inside I-PAC's war room for Jagan Mohan Reddy's Chief Ministerial campaign . 18 July 2019 . The News Minute.
  38. News: Jeelani . Gulam . 12 February 2020 . How AK-62 fired on all cylinders . en . India Today . 14 February 2020.
  39. News: PTI . 22 February 2020 . 'Adviser' Prashant Kishor has altered political discourse of Mamata's TMC . en . Business Standard . 22 February 2020.
  40. News: ANI . 10 April 2021 . Prashant Kishor's leaked audio chat increases political temperature in Bengal, TMC hits out at BJP . en . The Times of India . 12 April 2021.
  41. News: PTI . 3 February 2020 . DMK teams up with Prashant Kishor's I-PAC for 2021 Tamil Nadu polls . en . India Today . 7 February 2020.
  42. News: Jain . Sreenivasan . Ghosh . Deepshikha . NDTV Exclusive: Bengal Won, Prashant Kishor Says "Quitting This Space" . 24 June 2022 . NDTV . 3 May 2021.
  43. News: Hebbar . Nistula . 2 May 2022 . Prashant Kishor announces plans for political outfit, says 'beginning from Bihar' . 2 May 2022 . The Hindu . 0971-751X.
  44. Web site: 25 May 2022 . Brand Prashant Kishor and its political repercussions . 23 June 2022 . mint . en.
  45. News: Tripathi . Piyush . Prashant Kishor announces 3,000-km Padyatra from Bapu's 'Karmbhumi' . 24 June 2022 . The Times of India . 5 May 2022 . en.
  46. News: Shandilya . Shivam . 4 December 2023 . Bihar Assembly Polls: Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj To Contest On All 243 Seats In 2025 . Dainik Jagran . 28 February 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Prashant Kishor".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.