Punjab CM Amarinder Singh confirms Prashant Kishor joined him as a principal advisor

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Monday said poll-strategist Prashant Kishor has joined him as his principal advisor.

Happy to share that @PrashantKishor has joined me as my Principal Advisor. Look forward to working together for the betterment of the people of Punjab!

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 1, 2021

The development assumes significance as the Punjab Assembly elections are due early next year.

Currently, Kishor's company, the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), is assisting Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the West Bengal elections.

Kishor had handled the Congress poll campaign in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections. The Congress in 2017 had stormed to power by bagging 77 seats in the 117-member assembly.

Kishor was the brain behind Punjab Congress programmes like “Coffee with Captain” and “Punjab Da Captain” to drum up support for the party.

Last year, the Punjab CM had said Kishor told him that he would be "quite happy" in handling the election campaign of the Congress in Punjab for the 2022 Assembly polls.

His claims had come amid media reports that Kishor had said no to handling the party's campaign in the state.

Amarinder Singh had then even said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had left it to him on roping in Kishor for the party's poll campaign in the state.

The CM had then said that he had even asked his party MLAs whether they want Kishor for the next Assembly polls.

"Out of 80 MLAs, 55 said yes, they want him," Singh had then said.

Kishor had also managed Narendra Modi''s campaign for prime ministership in the 2014 General Election.