Prashant Kishor to join Modi’s 2019 team?
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 re-election bid may see the return of election strategist Prashant Kishor to his side. The two have met in recent months, and considered the possibility of Kishor working for Modi’s campaign in the year ahead, said a key political interlocutor familiar with the development.
After having worked closely with Modi during the BJP’S GUJBJP’S arat 2012 campaign and the Lok Sabha 2014 election, Kishor developed differences and went his separate way — working for political adversaries, including the Grand Alliance in Bihar and Congress.
But Modi and Kishor had “personally” been in touch over the past six months. This, it is understood, led to direct meetings where both discussed the possibility of working together again and a role for Kishor in the 2019 campaign. Kishor is also learnt to have met BJP chief Amit Shah.
Reports had indicated his split from the BJP had come due to differences with Shah after the 2014 campaign.
“The meetings have happened. But it remains tentative. Modi is not the Modi of 2012 when Kishor had first joined his office in Gujarat — he is the PM and India’s tallest leader. The BJP is not the BJP of 2014 when Kishor ran a parallel campaign from Gandhinagar — it is a much stronger party. And Kishor is also not the same Kishor — he has gone his separate way over the years. But it is on the table,” said the person aware of the conversations.