Prashant Kishor, colloquially known as PK, is an Indian
political strategist
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
and
tactician
A tactic is a conceptual action or short series of actions with the aim of achieving a short-term goal. This action can be implemented as one or more specific tasks. The term is commonly used in business, protest and military contexts, as well a ...
. A public health expert by training, who worked with the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
for eight years before venturing into Indian politics and working as a
political strategist
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
.
Kishor has worked as a political strategist for BJP to gain his knowledge then he worked for the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
,
JD(U)
Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pr ...
,
INC
Inc. or inc may refer to:
* Incorporation (business), as a suffix indicating a corporation
* ''Inc.'' (magazine), an American business magazine
* Inc. No World, a Los Angeles-based band
* Indian National Congress, a political party in India
* I ...
,
AAP,
YSRCP
The Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP or YCP; ) is an Indian regional political party based in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Its president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy serves as the state's chief minister. It is currently the fifth la ...
,
DMK and
TMC. His first major political campaign was in 2011 to help
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, then
Chief Minister of Gujarat
The Chief Minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. The chief minister's ter ...
get re-elected to the CM Office for a third time in the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012. However, he came to wider public attention when Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), an election-campaign group he conceptualised, helped the
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
-led
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) win an absolute majority in the
2014 Lok Sabha election.
Personal life and career
Kishor is from the Konar village,
Sasaram
Sasaram ()sometimes also spelled as Sahasram, is an ancient historical city and a municipal corporation region in the Rohtas district of the Bihar state in eastern India, with a history that goes to thousands of years. During the prehistoric ag ...
of
Rohtas district
Rohtas District is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It came into existence when Shahabad District was bifurcated into Bhojpur & Rohtas in 1972. Administrative headquarter of the district is Sasaram. Rohtas district has th ...
but shifted to
Buxar
Buxar is a nagar parishad city in the state of Bihar, India bordering Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the eponymous Buxar district, as well as the headquarters of the community development block of Buxar, which also contains the ce ...
in
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
. From there, Kishor completed his secondary education.
He is married to Jahnavi Das, a physician hailing from
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, with whom he has a son.
Reportedly working ''pro'' bono, and without holding any office in the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
or Gujarat Government, Kishor was
employed
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...
as a
political strategist
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
for BJP's pre-election campaign. He was
employed
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...
as the
political strategist
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
of
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pr ...
political party on 16 September 2018.
Work as a political strategist
In 2013, Kishor created Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), a media and publicity company in preparation for the May 2014 general election of India. Kishor was credited with formulating an innovative marketing & advertising campaign for Narendra Modi— the Chai pe Charcha discussions, 3D rallies, Run for Unity,
Manthan and several social media programmes.
In 2015, Kishor and other CAG members regrouped as I-PAC to work with
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...
, in a bid to win a third term as Chief Minister in the
2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election
The Legislative Assembly election was held over five-phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.
In April 2015, the Janata Parivar group (a group ...
.
The claims were that Kishor dramatically influenced the strategy, resources and alliances for the campaign.
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.
In 2020, Kishor was involved with the
2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election as well.
In 2016 the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
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.
Kishor has successfully worked with several other political parties in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
as well including
Amarinder Singh
Captain Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942), is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. A former Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab and Member ...
for the
2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election,
Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Yeduguri Sandinti Jagan Mohan Reddy (born 21 December 1972) also known as Y. S. Jagan or mononymously Jagan, is an Indian entrepreneur and politician serving as the 17th and current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh since 30 May 2019. He is the ...
for the
2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election,
Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi: ɾʋin̪d̪ ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, former bureaucrat, and activist who is the 7th and current Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. Currently, he is the national co ...
for the
2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election,
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
for the
2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, and
M. K. Stalin
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin ( , born 1 March 1953), often referred to by his initials MKS, is an Indian Tamil politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin ...
for the
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect representatives from the 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election, ending the decade-l ...
as well.
Retirement from political strategy
After the win of the
AITC in the
2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and DMK in the
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect representatives from the 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election, ending the decade-l ...
, Kishor declared that he was quitting as an election strategist.
In an interview with
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
on 2 May 2021, Kishor told anchor
Sreenivasan Jain on live TV, "I do not want to continue what I am doing. I have done enough. Time for me to take a break and do something else in life. I want to quit this space."
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"—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
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
from his home state,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
. Kishor later on announced a 3,000 km Padyatra which would take place across
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, and would involve Kishor meeting with people from all across the state. The "Padyatra" would take place under his Jan Suraaj campaign which could potentially lead to a formation of a political party in Bihar.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kishor, Prashant
1970s births
Campaign managers
2014 Indian general election
People from Bihar
Living people
UNICEF people
Indian officials of the United Nations
Janata Dal (United) politicians