Election strategist Prashant Kishor is seen as a man with the Midas touch, whose novel and out of the box ideas ensured a huge win for his clients - Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Nitish Kumar during the 2015 Bihar elections.
Now Prashant is trying to recreate his magic for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Till now the going has not been smooth for the man who is fondly called PK. He is facing a lot of resistance from several Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh where the party has been out of power well over two decades.
Amidst opposition from Congress leaders both in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, sources close to Prashant says he is ready to quit if his style is cramped.
Prashant was brought in by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to strategise a Congress win in the difficult states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. He has already made a five-point plan for Uttar Pradesh, which is being resisted by some Congress leaders.
He has suggested a Brahmin chief minister candidate for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh as the first point. He feels the Congress is best positioned to grab the 13% Brahmin vote and also target Rajputs and Muslims. Prashant claims that Dalits would never leave Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and it's best for Congress to give up on Dalit outreach which Rahul has been following.
He also insists on more prominent role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul. As for candidates Prashant's formula is that only those who can get at least 250 workers would be eligible, a formula which has faced huge resentment.
Prashant is also beginning to learn a lesson in dealing with the Congress - the crab mentality which doesn't allow anyone to rise. In fact many leaders have gone and complained to Rahul and senior Congress functionaries that he is an outsider and is trampling upon on the sentiments of the party workers.
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The party said his role is just to strategise and design a campaign, and not to decide on organisational matters and ticket distribution.
But sources say Prashant wants the same free hand which Nitish Kumar had given him. Many in the Congress are also worried that just like Nitish who has given a Cabinet rank to PK as he is called, Rahul may also reward him, a theory which the election strategist discounts strongly.
PK's 'battle' with Captain Amarinder Singh, who is the Congress chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, has already begun. Congress is aware that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making inroads into Punjab where the Shiromani Akali Dal is hugely unpopular.
Prashant's style is also unacceptable to the coterie around the Captain. Moreover, Amarinder has a strong and obstinate mind of his own and may not listen to suggestions coming in from PK.
His recent statement that he owes his win to nobody and certainly not to PK just goes to show the problem and resistance the master strategist is facing.
Prashant took advantage of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's chaiwaalah comment to organise Chai Pe Charcha for Modi which was a huge success. In Bihar, he took advantage of Modi's comment of Nitish Kumar's bad DNA and collected samples of hairs and nails from voters across the state and played on the Bihari "asmita" (pride) angle.
In the end, however, the intense dislike for Prashant Kishor within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led to PK quitting. The same could happen to him in the Congress too.
Sources close to PK point out that he doesn't want to wait to be thrown out but would rather quit soon. PK feels Congress could win Uttar Pradesh only if the party follows his strategy.
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