Kishor jumps ‘sinking ship’ in Punjab
Quits as Punjab CM Amarinder Singh’s principal advisor just 150 days after being appointed to the post.
Political strategist Prashant Kishor’s sudden announcement to resign as the principal advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, just 150 days after being appointed to the post, is being attributed to the internal political situation in the Congress.
Sources aware of the development told The Sunday Guardian that Kishor believes that it would be politically suicidal to be seen as close to Amarinder Singh as he was on a weak ground, both among the voters and in the party’s scheme of things. The elections in Punjab are scheduled for February 2022.
Sources further added that the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress president by the Congress high command, despite Amarinder Singh’s intense opposition, has also played a role in Kishor’s decision to leave Amarinder’s “ship”. As per Kishor’s understanding, if Congress wins in Punjab, Sidhu will be the new CM and not Amarinder Singh and hence, there was no benefit in being associated with Amarinder Singh.
Kishor’s political campaigning group, I-PAC, too, is wrapping up its work from Punjab where it had moved to after the elections in West Bengal. Now, team members of I-PAC are being sent to Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The relationship between Amarinder Singh and Kishor, who is trying for a “significant” position within the Congress, had soured after the 2017 Punjab elections. One of the alleged reasons behind it was the political consultancy group not being given government work by the Amarinder Singh government.
According to sources, after the election results, senior founding members of I-PAC had gone to meet Amarinder Singh, seeking work as was promised to them. However, that meeting did not end on a happy note as the team had to wait for two hours to meet the CM, who met them for less than two minutes, before directing them to the office of the Chief Secretary.
Almost three years later, in October 2020, Amarinder Singh approached Kishor and asked Kishor to join him in view of the 2022 state elections and even sent his grandson Nirvan Singh to Delhi to have a meeting with Kishor. After Nirvan Singh had waited for two hours, the meeting ended on a negative note.
As per Kishor’s understanding, if Congress wins in Punjab, Sidhu will be the new CM and not Amarinder Singh and there is no benefit in being associated with CM Singh.