Prashant Kishor,[1][4] colloquially known as PK,is an Indian politician and former political strategist.[5] He worked in public health[6] in a United Nations funded programme for eight years before venturing into Indian politics and working as a political strategist.[7][8]
Kishor has worked as a successful political strategist for several political parties including the BJP,JD(U),INC,AAP,YSRCP,DMK and TMC.[9][10][11] His first major political campaign was in 2011 to help Narendra Modi,then Chief Minister of Gujarat get re-elected to the CM Office for a third time in the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012.[12][13] However,he came to wider public attention when Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG),an election-campaign group he conceptualised,helped the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win an absolute majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[14]
Early life and career
Kishor was born in a Hindu Family to Shrikant Pandey,a physician and Sushila Pandey,a homemaker.[15][16][17] He hails from the Konar village,Sasaram of Rohtas district,Bihar,India. He later moved to Buxar,Bihar where he completed his secondary education.[2][8] Kishor is married to Jahnavi Das,a physician hailing from Guwahati,Assam,with whom he has a son.[18][19]
Kishor worked in public health[20] programmes funded by the United Nations for eight years till 2011.
Work as a political strategist
Kishor worked reportedly pro bono,and without holding any office in the BJP or Gujarat Government,Kishor worked as a political strategist for BJP's pre-election campaign in 2012 Gujarat Assembly Election and 2014 Loksabha Election.[21] In 2013,Kishor co-founded Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG),a media and publicity company in preparation for the May 2014 general election of India,with Robbin Sharrma and others.[22][23][24] Kishor and his team were credited with formulating an innovative marketing and advertising campaign for Narendra Modi—the Chai Pe Charcha discussions,[25] 3D rallies,Run for Unity,[14] Manthan and several social media programmes.[26]
In 2015,He helped Nitish Kumar led Mahagathbandhan win the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. Kishor Joined the Janata Dal (United) on 16 September 2018 as the vice-president of the party.[7][3] Kishor and other CAG members regrouped as I-PAC to work with Nitish Kumar,in a bid to win a third term as Chief Minister in the Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[27] The claims were that Kishor dramatically influenced the strategy,resources and alliances for the campaign.[28][29] Upon winning the Bihar elections,Chief Minister Nitish Kumar named Kishor as his advisor for planning and programme implementation,with a brief look for ways to implement the seven-point agenda that was promised during Kumar's election campaign.[30][31] In 2020,Kishor was involved with the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[32][33]
In 2016 the Indian National Congress employed Kishor for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. However,these elections were a failure for Congress and Kishor as BJP won more than 300 seats and Congress could only manage 7 seats. This was also the first time Kishor failed to help a party win the elections.[34]
A year later on 2 May 2022, Kishor hinted toward the formation of a political outfit of his own with a tweet that said that it was time to go to the "Real Masters, The People" and on the path of "Jan Suraaj-Peoples Good Governance"[44]—similar to his last recent campaign titled "Baat Bihar Ki". After his retirement from being a political strategist, Kishor has also mulled launching a political party from his home state, Bihar.[45] Kishor later on announced a 3,000km Padyatra which would take place across Bihar, and would involve Kishor meeting with people from all across the state.[46] The "Padyatra" is taking place under his "Jan Suraaj Padyatra" campaign. One of the stated goals of the campaign is to form a political party, which he estimates would fight its first election in the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly.[47] On 2 October 2024, Kishor announced the Jan Suraaj campaign as a formal political party, which will be known as the Jan Suraaj Party.[48]
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