A week after being appointed national vice president of the ruling Janata Dal (United), Prashant Kishor has got down to doing what he does best — craft election strategies. Over the past two days, he met hundreds of youngsters with the aim of putting together a “youth brigade” that will publicise the achievements of the Nitish Kumar-led government across the State.
Open invitation
Mr. Kishor had extended his invitation through a Facebook page announcement, in which youngsters keen on meeting him were asked to fill up a form with detailed information about themselves, ranging from name, contact numbers and occupation to their parliamentary constituency, gram panchayat, voter ID number, etc. His team then scrutinised the forms and 260 youngsters were invited for a meeting with Mr. Kishor on Sunday at the Chief Minister’s second official bungalow, 7, Circular Road. The marathon meeting lasted from noon to 4 p.m. On Monday, as many as 250 young JD(U) leaders and workers and members of the party’s student wing were invited for another meeting which also went on for hours.
Some of those who attended the Monday meeting told The Hindu that Mr. Kishor gave them tips on how to highlight the work done by Nitish Kumar-led governments in the past 13 years. “It happened both ways, an interactive meeting peppered with questions and answers,” said one of them, Rajiv Kumar. “He also told us how to use social media for publicity and how to help people differentiate between the Nitish Kumar government and the previous RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] regime,” said another attendee.
Booth to State level
People close to Mr. Kishor said his planned youth brigade would work from booth to the State level during the upcoming parliamentary and State Assembly elections.
A month after he joined the JD(U), Mr. Kishor was appointed the party’s national vice president on October 16. His entry into the party and quick elevation — on top of the Chief Minister’s earlier comments that Mr. Kishor was its “future” — has called heartburn among some senior party leaders. “Nitish Kumar, in fact, wanted to clip the wings of some of his senior party leaders, so he brought in Prashant Kishor,” claimed a senior party leader.
The Opposition RJD, however, appears unfazed. “It seems Nitish Kumar has lost faith in his party leaders, so he brought in a professional to run the party,” senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari said. Party MLA and spokesperson Bhai Birendra said, “Whatever he (Kishor) does, whether he meets youngsters or others, nothing will work this time. People have made up their mind to dethrone Nitish Kumar.” The Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leaders said Mr. Kishor’s formula will prove a damp squib in the upcoming elections.
