Prashant Kishor assumes charge as advisor to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, swings into action

In the latest development, poll strategist Prashant Kishor assumed charge as Principle Advisor to Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday. Kishor, who was roped in by Punjab CM as his advisor in the rank and status of a cabinet minister, participated in a three-hour-long meeting with CM Amarinder Singh, the Chief secretary and top CMO officials. As per sources, Kishor will plan Congress' election campaign for the Punjab Assembly election due next year. 

As per sources, Prashant Kishor asked the depatmental secretaries to submit their responses to a set of 10 points within the next week. The poll strategist will work from Punjab CM's official residence and is learnt to be staying at Captain Amarinder Singh's farmhouse, according to ANI. On Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a plea challenging Prashant Kishor's appointment noting that it was for the public to decide if the former's appointment was a burden to the exchequer. It is pertinent to note that the political strategist was credited for Congress winning 77 out of 117 seats in the 2017 Punjab Assembly election. At present, Kishor is shaping TMC and DMK's campaign for the West Bengal Assembly polls and Tamil Nadu Assembly polls respectively. 

Opposition from Punjab Congress leaders

After gaining acclaim owing to his crucial role in BJP winning a majority on its own in the 2014 General election, Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee also ran successful campaigns for AAP (2015) and Mahagatbandhan (2015). However, he failed to propel the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance to victory in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Incidentally, Kishor joining hands with Congress for the 2022 state Assembly polls comes months after he turned down Singh's offer in this regard.

In June 2020, both Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Congress' state affairs in-charge Asha Kumari reportedly made it clear that the political strategist was not needed for the next Assembly election. However, the Punjab CM revealed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had left the decision to him. Maintaining that he had taken the party's legislators into confidence, Capt. Amarinder Singh divulged that 55 Congress MLAs were in favour of bringing back Kishor to handle the campaign. 

Kishor's prediction for West Bengal

After BJP won 18 out of 42 parliamentary seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it intensified the campaign to defeat TMC in the WB Assembly election. Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda have exuded confidence in the party winning more than 200 seats in the 294-member Assembly. However, Prashant Kishor predicted that BJP will struggle to win more than 99 seats in the election. On February 27, he termed the upcoming polls as one of the key battles for democracy and asserted that the people of the state will vote for Mamata Banerjee and TMC.