Political strategist Prashant Kishor resigns as advisor to Punjab CM

CHANDIGARH: Political strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday tendered his resignation from the post of Principal Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.

In his resignation letter, Kishor stated that as he decided to take a temporary break from an active role in public life, he will not be able to discharge his duties as the Principal Advisor to the Punjab CM.

Kishor's letter read, "As you are aware, in view of my decision to take a temporary break from active role in public life, I have not been able to take over the responsibilities as your Principal Advisor."

"Since I am yet to decide on my future course of action, I write to request you to kindly relieve me from this responsibility. I take this opportunity to thank you for considering me for this position," added the political strategist in his letter.

In March this year, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had appointed Kishor as his Principal Advisor ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in the state.

Taking to Twitter, Captain Amarinder had said that he looked forward to working with Kishor for the betterment of the people of Punjab.

"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!" the Punjab CM had tweeted.

Speaking to ANI soon after being appointed as Principal Advisor to the Punjab CM, Kishor had said that he would start working in Punjab in the next few days along with all other responsibilities.

Earlier, the election strategist was roped in by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 and had indicated in the past that he will quit Twitter if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) performs any better in the state than his prediction.

As a political strategist, Kishor worked with many parties and helped them win various elections.

He helped Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar to win the Assembly polls in 2015. Following this, Kumar appointed Kishor as the vice president of JD-U. However, Kishor was expelled from JD-U in January 2020 over his disagreement with the party on the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Last year, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin had announced his party's collaboration with Prashant Kishor's poll strategy group Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) for the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.