Election campaign strategist Prashant Kishore, who played a pivotal role in the victory of Nitish Kumar-led alliance in November 2015 Assembly elections, has been appointed adviser to the Bihar chief minister.
A notification issued in this regard by the Cabinet Coordination Department says Prashant will be accorded the rank of a Cabinet minister.
Born in Bihar’s Buxar district, Prashant earlier worked with the United Nations. He, however, left the job and returned to India. In 2011, he formed a team of experts from IITs and IIMs to work as election campaign strategist. Initially, he is believed to have approached the Congress party but when Rahul Gandhi reportedly showed little interest, he held parleys with Narendra Modi in 2012. In 2013, he shifted to Modi’s residence in Gujarat, worked from his official bungalow and drew an enviable poll strategy which helped BJP sweep the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Prashant, however, did not receive the praise for Modi’s landslide as much of credit went to Modi himself, followed by Amit Shah. Miffed over shabby treatment by the BJP mandarins, Prashant vowed to teach the saffron camp a lesson.
A chance meeting with JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Pawan Verma in 2014-end paved his way to return to Bihar and work for Nitish.