JOIN USBihar chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar met his former poll advisor Prashant Kisore, triggering speculations that the "master election strategist" is coming back to campaign for the BJP and its key constituents in the Lok Sabha polls to be held in 2019.
The speculations have gained ground following reports about top leaders of the BJP also keeping in touch with Kisore over the last few months to bring him back to the fold to chart out the party's poll strategy for the general elections next year.
Nitish, whose party is an ally of the the BJP, met Kisore here on Tuesday "to persuade him" to come back to the fold on Tuesday, sources privy to the development told DH.
The JD(U) chief also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi separately on Wednesday.
Kisore, who is credited for the BJP's thumping victory under Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had moved out of the BJP's fold following a tiff with its party president Amit Shah.
He joined Nitish, who was then an arch rival of Modi, and believed to have played a key role in ensuring the victory of the RJD, JD(U) and Congress' grand alliance in the Bihar Assembly polls in 2015.
Kisore, who was appointed as the poll advisor of Nitish, silently moved out of the JD(U)'s fold in 2016 after the chief minister switched sides and joined hands with the BJP, following serious differences with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad over a corruption case against his son Tejaswi Yadav.
"The return of the master poll strategist seems to be imminent as stakes of the BJP, JD(U) and other key constituents of the BJP are going to be high in 2019 Lok Sabha elections with Opposition parties making efforts to form a grand alliance to wrestle power from the BJP led coalition at the Centre," a BJP insider said.