Kishor since 2014
FPJ scans strategist’s hits & misses
2014’s big political success
It was 2014 that propelled Kishor into the limelight after he created the election campaign group CAG that helped the BJP win the 2014 Lok Sabha election with an absolute majority.
Helping Nitish
In 2015, the poll strategist’s I-PAC team went to 40,000 villages in Bihar and found out more about their problems. They used the information they had collected and drafted their campaign, which eventually led to Nitish Kumar winning his third term as chief minister. With this win, Prashant Kishor became known as the man who delivers every single time.
With Captain
In 2017, he was roped in for the Punjab Assembly poll by the Congress. PK came up with the “Coffee with Captain”and “Punjab Da Captain” campaigns, making Singh a household name. His strategies worked and Amarinder stormed to power, winning 77 of the 117 seats.
Uttar Pradesh blip
The 2017 UP poll would be the one major black spot on Kishor’s stellar performance. His client, the Congress, only won 7 seats, while BJP and its allies won over 300 seats.
Steering Jagan to victory
Putting the 2017 Congress UP debacle behind, PK took on YS Jaganmohan Reddy as his client for the 2019 Andhra poll. His strategies worked and the Jagan-led party achieved a thumping 151/175 seat win.
2020 Delhi win
The Aam Aadmi Party’s victory in the 2020 Assembly election could perhaps be Prashant Kishor’s second biggest win. PK’s ideas once again hit a note with the public and the AAP won a phenomenal victory of 62 seats in a 70-member House.
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu victories of 2021
In West Bengal, the Trinamool used the I-PAC not only for devising electoral strategies and perception building activities but for its own organisational consolidation, restructuring and expansion. Mamata’s campaign had PK’s fingerprints all over it. Kishor wove his magic again in Tamil Nadu, where DMK chief MK Stalin won the poll and became the chief minister for the first time.
Old Friends?
After PK declined the Congress offer to join the party, former Punjab state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu met him on Tuesday and shared a picture with him saying “old friends are the best”. “Had a wonderful meeting with my old friend PK. Old wine, Old gold and Old friends still the best!!!” Sidhu said on Twitter.