Political strategist Prashant Kishor said he wants to move away from politics and the next general elections will not see him work like he did in 2014. “I want to go back to the grassroots and work with the people. In the past six years, I have worked with the leaders. I will either go to Gujarat, where I have worked before, or Bihar, my birthplace,” he told journalist Sankarshan Thakur at the Indian School of Business Leadership Summit here on Sunday.
Credited for poll strategies of Narendra Modi, believed to have helped him ride to power as Gujarat Chief Minister in 2012 and later as Prime Minister, Mr. Kishor also worked for the JDU during 2015’s Bihar elections. He later worked the campaign for the SP-Congress combine in Uttar Pradesh and poll for Congress in Punjab last year. He founded Indian Political Action Committee, a political advocacy group.
In what was billed as his first-ever public interaction, Mr. Kishor refrained from taking names when asked probing questions. He was also asked if Priyanka Vadra would have made a better Congress President, to which he responded saying it would be unfair to Rahul Gandhi to say so without giving him time to prove himself.
Asked about the role of citizen’s data in elections, he said data helps on the sidelines, but in India, where a large chunk of the population is not digitally connected, a politician can win an election only by convincing his electorate through methods long-known. He also termed televised debates between those running for office a “great idea”.
In response to questions about the relationship he shares with PM Modi, Mr. Kishor said he reconnected with Mr. Modi last year, after a two-year gap. He said he has not been asked to return to work out the BJP campaign for 2019 polls.