BIG: Prashant Kishor roped in by Kejriwal for his re-election bid in 2020, against BJP

Taking on yet another non-NDA political party's campaign, poll strategist Prashant Kishor has teamed up with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his re-election campaign in 2020, as announced by Kejriwal on Saturday. Kishor, who is also JD(U) national vice-president will help Kejriwal to win against the BJP in the state polls in 2020. BJP, which has not held the Delhi Assembly since 1998 has nominated Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari as its CM candidate, in a bid to rule at Centre and the national capital.

Kejriwal ropes in Prashant Kishor

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Prashant Kishor's previous stint against Kejriwal

During the Punjab Assembly polls in 2017, Kishor had directly faced off Kejriwal as he was helping AAP's opponent Congress. Congress which had roped in Kishor for both Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi Assembly was successful in electing Captain Amarinder Singh as CM, beating AAP by a wide margin. Unfortunately, Kishor's campaign in UP failed, ushering Yogi Adityanath into his first term as Uttar Pradesh's CM. Acknowledging their past rivalry, I-PAC tweeted that it would be great to work with its 'toughest opponent'. 

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Kishor's other current poll campaigns

• West Bengal: After the emergence of BJP in West Bengal as the second-largest party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Chief Mamata Banerjee met Kishor in June to talk about the West Bengal State polls in 2021. While Banerjee has refused to comment on roping in Kishor, sources have confirmed the Kishor's political advocacy group - Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) is working with Banerjee for her re-election bid. Trinamool recently trumped BJP in all 3 bypolls.

• Maharashtra: The Shiv Sena had roped in Kishor during the 2019 Assembly polls, which resulted in the Sena bettering its strike rate by winning 56 of 124 seats. While Kishor was initially roped in to project Aaditya Thackeray as the 'new hope of Maharashtra', amid the BJP-Sena fallout, he helped the Sena stitch an alliance with NCP and Congress. As a result, Uddhav Thackeray has been sworn-in as the first Thackeray CM.

• Tamilnadu: Reports state that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is currently in talks with Kishor for helping in M K Stalin's election as CM in 2021. The  2021 Assembly polls are important for DMK as it cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the Lok Sabha with 38 seats. Moreover, suggests that Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan too is mulling to rope Kishor's I-PAC for his debut Assembly polls.

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Kishor's previous successful campaigns:

I-PAC had teamed up with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP's Assembly and Lok Sabha campaign in 2019, helping YSRCP win 151 seats in the state's 175 seats. In 2015, Kishor worked for the JD(U) when the party was a part of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and led the grand alliance to their landslide victory in the assembly elections in Bihar. Prashant Kishor first hit headlines after helping then-CM Modi win the 2012 Gujarat assembly election and become chief minister for the third time beating anti-incumbency. He also was pivotal during Modi's first bid to become Prime Minister in 2014, awarding BJP its first absolute majority in the Centre.

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