Published 12:22 IST, February 11th 2020
Prashant Kishor breaks silence with AAP firmly leading in Delhi, rubs salt in BJP wounds
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set to win the Delhi assembly polls as per trends (leading 55 seats), poll strategist Prashant Kishor has thanked the people
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set to win the Delhi assembly polls as per trends (leading 55 seats), poll strategist Prashant Kishor has taken to Twitter to thank the people of Delhi. He has said that the people of Delhi have saved the soul of India. Notably, this is Kishor's first response after he was expelled from JDU by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and he challenged him to get back the chief ministerial post.
During the election campaign, Kishor had urged the people of Delhi to vote with love in order to save the harmony and brotherhood in the nation. This was in a response to former BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah who urged the voters in Delhi to press the EVM in a way that its current is felt in Shaheen Bagh. Meanwhile, Kishor's team IPAC was roped in by Stalin-led DMK for the Tamil Nadu polls. Interestingly, Kishor also designed the poll campaign for PM Modi in 2014.
Kishor, Kumar and Bihar
In the biggest political twist ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar, Kishor was on January 29 expelled from JDU. Kishor's induction in JDU as party's vice president in September 2018 raised many eyebrows. However, following his induction, the JDU fared extremely well in the Lok Sabha polls along with ally BJP, completely decimating Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD Kishor, a poll strategist heading a team called I-PAC, worked for Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's election campaign even as he held the post of JDU VC. The twist in the events came when his team was roped-in to assist West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for 2021 assembly polls.
Even as it stirred controversy and irked the ally BJP, Nitish Kumar had said that he does not interfere in Kishor's work. Kishor is currently working for Arvind Kejriwal for the Delhi polls. In the course of campaigning, Kishor has not only targeted the BJP but has gone on to question former BJP chief Amit Shah. Breaking his silence even as things seemed out of place within the JDU, Nitish Kumar on January 28 said that it was Amit Shah who asked him to induct Kishor in the party. He also issued an ultimatum to Kishor, saying "he may go wherever he wants but if he stays, he will have to be within the party limits."
Updated 12:22 IST, February 11th 2020