Nervous Nitish Kumar clutches at straws by inducting Prashant Kishor

By joining the Janata Dal (United) at the party’s Bihar executive committee meeting in Patna on September 16, Prashant Kishor has inadvertently conceded that he has actually failed in his own role as election strategist. The proudly ‘ideology-neutral’ Kishor, who can statedly work with any party across the political spectrum, is now part of a political party that claims inheritance of the socialist principles of Jay Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. While being part of JD(U), Kishor will reportedly also continue to advise YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party. Perhaps for the first time, Indian politics is seeing a member of a political party with fingers in multiple political party pies!

Though the media has given much credit to Kishor for the success of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party election campaign in the 2013 Assembly poll in Gujarat and in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and Nitish Kumar’s own campaign in Bihar in 2015, there is scant evidence of how Kishor was responsible for these electoral successes. Thus he has no dearth of critics who refuse to acknowledge his achievements.

First, they argue, the victories of BJP in 2013 in Gujarat and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were a foregone conclusion, and giving Kishor credit for these victories is much more than he deserves. Indeed, Kishor has a track record of working with the favourites to win an election, be it with Modi in Gujarat, with Modi in 2014, with Nitish in Bihar and with Capt Amarinder Singh of Congress in Punjab. Where Kishor has worked with the under-dogs in an electoral race, for instance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, he has miserably failed.

In Bihar 2015, too, the Rashtriya Janata Dal did not seek his help, yet in the Assembly election ended up winning the highest number of seats. Both the RJD and JD(U) had contested on 101 seats each, but the former bagged 80, while the latter only 71. The Congress, the third constituent of the Grand Alliance, fought on 41 seats and clinched 27. Despite the RJD being short of resources and Congress having no towering leader in Bihar at the time, the performance of these two parties was beyond expectations. The Congress did well notwithstanding the fact that most of the seats left for it were the urban ones, were the BJP is traditionally strong.

So despite Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial face and massive propaganda blitzkrieg by Kishor, the performance of his party was not on expected lines. In fact, as results came in on November 8, 2015, Nitish was dismayed that his party got nine less seats than the RJD––and thus in the process lost much of his bargaining position within the Grand Alliance. All this had happened despite Prashant Kishor steering much of the JD(U) campaign.

Kishor’s induction worries an already stressed JD(U) rank and file

At the time of Kishor’s joining JD(U), state party chief Bashistha Narayan Singh heaped fulsome praise on him. By giving so much credit to Kishor, these JD(U) leaders are, perhaps unknowingly, questioning the capability of Nitish Kumar to woo voters. By their logic, had Kishor not been there with his poll tactics, JD(U) would have won even fewer seats in Bihar.

If this is the case, then it is yet another matter of concern for the rank and file of the JD(U), who were relegated to a secondary role in the Bihar assembly campaign by their party leader. Some senior leaders too are worried over the way their contributions are being by-passed or ignored. They have a point, as Nitish sees JD(U)’s future in Kishor.

An objective analysis of Kishor would reveal that the media has ignored his failures. For instance, after the Grand Alliance victory Nitish made him his advisor, with the status of a cabinet minister. But Kishor soon disappeared from Bihar. Some BJP leaders, then in opposition, questioned his absence as he had been getting salary and perks from tax-payers’ money. It was then said that he had been hired by the Congress in Punjab, which was going for the Assembly election. But the Congress won in Punjab on its own and Prashant had little to do with it. Then came the news that he had been working the Samajwadi Party-Congress tie up in Uttar Pradesh. But the two parties badly lost the election.

If the JD(U) leadership praises him so much for the 71 seats the party won, then by that logic, criticism for the disastrous performance of SP-Congress combine in UP should also go to him. The media too remained silent on this issue.

On being prodded as to what the party will gain by inducting Kishor––who may soon be entrusted with some big responsibility––a senior JD(U) functionary replied: “Prashant Kishor would help co-ordinate with the BJP in seat-sharing arrangement as he is close to the top BJP leaders and has met them only recently.”

The answer from this leader openly questions party chief Nitish’s abilities in directly dealing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah on the issue of sharing of seats for the next Lok Sabha election.

Kishor, who had last worked for YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, may have some talent in the field of strategising for election campaigns. But he has his own limitations. He has no social or political base of his own. Even calling him an election strategist would be an over-statement.

Kishor has realised his shortcomings and has decided to join a regional political party of Bihar, which is passing through its worst phase. Otherwise he would have simply faded away.

But Nitish sees in him a great asset. Perhaps he needs a straw to clutch on to before getting drowned.