JD(U) vice-president and poll strategist Prashant Kishor after publically criticizing party’s support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, had a closed-door meeting with JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Saturday where he offered to resign. However, Kumar turned down the offer. Kishor said, that “I stand by the views I have expressed”.
He, however, said the amended Citizenship Act was, per se, not a “major cause for worry” but it could be problematic in combination with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
On Wednesday, Kishor had tweeted that the legislation “could turn into a lethal combo” (with NRC) to systematically discriminate and even prosecute people based on religion.
On Saturday, he and Kumar discussed the contentious legislation in an hour-long meeting and after coming out from the chief minister’s residence, Kishor stuck to his stand.
Asked what the chief minister now thought of the NRC, which he had criticised, Kishor said Kumar has made his stand clear in the past and being the national president of JD(U), it is for him to make any fresh statement on the issue.
Kishor, who joined JD(U) in September last year, sought to make light of the comments made on him by party general secretary and leader in Rajya Sabha RCP Singh, though without naming him.
“He is a very senior leader of the party. If he says anything about me, I do not mind it. Nitish Kumar has told me to not worry about anything that any party leader says about me,” Kishor quipped.
As the national president, he (Kumar) has to take a call on who has been in the wrong and who has been not. I stand by the views I have expressed. And I do not sense any hostility against myself in the party either,” he added.
On Friday, replying to queries from reporters about Kishor’s defiant stance despite the party having voted in favour of the citizenship bill, Singh had snapped that leaders who have joined the party on anukampa (compassionate grounds) should tell the people what has been their contribution. “How have they contributed, if at all, in strengthening the organisation.”
Singh, a former IAS officer, had added that those who do not feel comfortable in the party were free to go anywhere.
Kishor, 42, also sought to underscore the difference between the new Citizenship Amendment Act, which has triggered strong protests in the entire north-east, and the National Register for Citizens, which is expected to be the next big thing on the Modi government’s agenda.
“I hold the view that CAA per se is not a major cause for worry. It would simply result in grant of citizenship to some people. But with NRC it would make for a lethal, discriminatory combo,” he said.
His earlier tweet against law was frowned upon by the BJP. But opposition parties like the RLSP and the HAM had beckoned him to join the Grand Alliance. The Alliance comprises Congress, for which Kishor worked in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, and RJD headed by Lalu Prasad with whom he is known to have a cordial relation.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has roped in election strategist Prashant Kishor for “image makeover” as Delhi is set to go to the polls next year.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s consultancy firm I-PAC has come on board with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
However, when asked about it, Kishor replied it is my company I-PAC that has been hired by Kejriwal. “I am associated with the company but do not own it. There is no reason why this professional collaboration should in any way interfere with my party’s political goals.
The Kishor-led political consultancy firm I-PAC was part of the successful election campaign of Narendra Modi in 2014 when he was BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Currently, I-PAC is working on the Trinamool Congress’ re-election campaign for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election.
After facing a stiff challenge from the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, Mamata Banerjee had engaged the poll planner to halt the BJP’s growing influence in Bengal ahead of the crucial state election.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) national Vice President Prashant Kishor has also been instrumental in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s big victory in Andhra defeating TDP chief and former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.
Prashant Kishor is credited for formulating the election strategy for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 elections.
The much-vaunted “chai pe charcha” (chat over tea) and 3D hologram rallies were said to be Kishor’s brainchild.
He subsequently ran successful campaigns for JD(U) in 2015 Bihar elections and for Congress in 2017 Punjab polls. His wrote a successful story in Punjab in helping the Congress come back to power after two successive electoral losses.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the CAB, two days after it was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Bill was vehemently opposed by major opposition parties objecting its nature and describing it “against Muslim community”, which the government rejected saying it does not affect the community residing in the country.
Following the passage of the CAB there has been massive protests in the Northeastern region. Mobile and Internet services were suspended over the last few days in a couple of states.
According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.