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Enigma, that is Prashant Kishore

 Prashant Kishore has been in the news since 2014, when as campaign strategist for the BJP and Modi in particular, he gained notoriety. One question to start this post with- would BJP not have won a decisive mandate without the strategising advice by Prashant Kishore and team? I think the situation was ripe and Modi was the only choice for the people of this country. The Congress-led UPA had provided a golden opportunity for an alternative political party to usurp center-stage and come to power. It is Prashant Kishore who benefitted from the cadre-led party, that is BJP, and its organisational strength. Yes, messaging is important and one cannot ignore the power of words in imagining the society we live in. 

Fast-track to 2022. Prashant Kishore, with the Bengal Assembly election victory as the basis is again much sought after. Signs up with different political parties at the regional level to help them hold on to power. Then comes the big drama- wants to help the Congress revive its fortune at the national level. Is even willing to join the party and be accountable. Makes a 600 slide presentation that becomes the talk of town with everyone praising it for the meticulous details that it goes into in setting the ground work for strategising. But then comes the shock- the Congress puts its own conditions and Prashant Kishore decides to abandon the rapprochement attempt. 

What is his next move- to apply the principles that he has been espousing into action. He announces the idea of an alternative to the existing political environment in Bihar- a new political party. To be launched after meeting with the people through the Gandhian method of padayatra. This will be Prashant Kishore's biggest test- will actually decide if providing help through research to a political party actually makes a difference in the outcome or it was just luck in backing the party that is already on the way to victory. He stated the other day that except for UP in 2017, all the other places he ensured victory to the party that he had aligned with. How about TMC in Goa in the recent election- they did not win. 

Political consultants are going to be around for some time due to the sheer scale of elections at both the state and central level in India. Prashant Kishore has branded himself and IPAC as invincible through clever PR. But luck is running out and time only will tell if Prashant Kishore will rise as a politician or go back to giving political gyan to other political parties. 

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