Kishor gets key post in Nitish’s party
Poll strategist becomes second most powerful man in Bihar ruling party
In a significant political development, poll strategist Prashant Kishor was yesterday appointed vice-president of the Janata Dal-United by party chief Nitish Kumar, making him the second most powerful man in Bihar’s ruling party.
The move comes barely a month after he joined the party.
“The JD-U hopes his expertise and experience will boost the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” party spokesperson K.C. Taygi said yesterday.
“I am grateful to the party and the leadership for giving this responsibility and honour. I am committed to Nitish Kumar’s idea of justice with development and Bihar,” Kishor tweeted.
Sources said Kishor’s prime responsibility would be to chart out poll campaign for the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and hold the challenging task of seat-sharing deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The JD-U, which won just two seats in the last 2014 LS polls, has been seeking a “respectable” number of seats from its ally, the BJP, but the latter has not responded positively and has kept the seatsharing talks on hold.
However, Nitish Kumar’s move is set to cause discontent in the party as Kishor has been given this responsibility, bypassing a string of senior leaders in the party.
“The move will prove disastrous for the JD-U. He has been given the post after overlooking a number of grass-root party leaders,” Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Bhai Birendra said.
In 2016, the chief minister appointed him as his adviser, giving him the status of a cabinet minister, shortly after his role as a poll strategist following the party’s victory in 2015 state polls.