Renowned election strategist Prashant Kishor met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday.
According to TMC sources, during the nearly two-hour-long meeting at the state secretariat, the two discussed the reasons behind the TMC’s set back in the Lok Sabha elections.
"There is a considerable possibility that our party will rope in Kishor to utilise his services for the next Assembly elections in 2021. The official contract is likely to be signed soon,” a senior TMC leader said while the party is yet to officially speak on the matter.
The sources further revealed that the meeting between the chief minister and Kishor was arranged by Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who was also present there.
They also said that Kishor has agreed to work for the TMC if the party agrees to it.
TMC insiders said that if the official agreement takes place, then Kishore will be given three key responsibilities.
First, he will have to point and analyse the reasons for the TMC’s set back in the Lok Sabha elections; second, he will have to chalk out the party’s strategy in the next Assembly elections and third, he will be tasked with finding out effective and innovative ways to spread awareness about the benefits of the TMC government’s projects and their success.
The development comes at a time when the BJP, which won an unprecedented 18 seats in Bengal, is breathing down the TMC's neck which claimed victory in 22 seats.
Kishor, who has an impressive track record, had been a key part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections followed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s campaign in 2015.
His latest achievement is the victory of Jaganmohan Reddy in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. However, his stint with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 didn't see much success.