Kejriwal gets Kishor’s I-PAC on board

Political advocacy group to work for free, says AAP

Political strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday, has been brought “on board” with elections to the State Assembly round the corner.

Party insiders privy to the development said senior AAP leaders — including its national spokespersons Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey — had been in touch with the Janata Dal (United) politician’s political advocacy group “on and off” after the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections.

Sources said at least three meetings between Mr. Kishor, credited with having conceptualised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Chai pe Charcha’ public outreach programme during the 2014 general election, and Mr. Kejriwal had taken place since the Punjab elections, two of them between August and early December this year.

“Happy to share that @indianpac is coming on-board with us. Welcome aboard!” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted. In response, I-PAC said “After Punjab results, we acknowledged you as the toughest opponent that we have ever faced. Happy to join forces now with @ArvindKejriwal and @AamAadmiParty.”

‘Structural vacuum’

AAP sources said the step was in reaction to a “structural vacuum” the party had felt after its performance in the Lok Sabha polls in which it failed to win any parliamentary seat in the Capital.

Currently engaged with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s campaign for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Mr. Kishor was also associated with the Assembly election campaigns of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2015, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in 2017, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh the same year and most recently with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s campaign earlier this year.

“There is no question of hiring any company They are working for free, there is no commercial arrangement,” Mr. Chadha told The Hindu. The AAP spokesperson, however, refused to disclose if I-PAC will be associated with AAP only for the Assembly polls or beyond.