Will Prashant Kishor magic work in Uttar Pradesh?
The emphatic victory of the Grand Alliance in the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections has made election strategist Prashant Kishor a much sought-after man today.
He is all set to take up the cudgels for reviving the fortunes of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat in the next Assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2017, he has already held meetings with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to discuss the party strategies to be chalked out for the crucial UP polls.
The ace campaign designer's successful collaborations in the past - first with Narendra Modi and then with Nitish Kumar - have enhanced his reputation as a know-all strategist who delivers the exact recipe for electoral success in the largest democracy in the world.
It will be interesting to see if he hits the bullseye in the complex UP elections as well. In any case, the battle of Lucknow will definitely test his mettle. Even though UP and Bihar happen to be neighbours, the politics in the two states is diametrically different and the same yardstick cannot be applied for electoral success there.
In Bihar, the alliance of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and the Congress against the BJP-led had made the last Assembly polls a bipolar fight. Kishor's campaign for their Grand Alliance had primarily revolved around the direct contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar. There was no formidable third force as such in the fray to make it a triangular fight. But the UP polls are likely to be a crowded affair.
In all likelihood, the UP election will be a multi-cornered contest with the presence of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP and the Congress in the poll arena to wrest power from the ruling Samajwadi Party. Besides, Nitish and Lalu will be a force to reckon with there.
Kishor is, therefore, faced with a big challenge of preparing a foolproof blueprint for the Congress not only to oust Samajwadi Party from power but also prevent the BJP and the BSP from getting the majority. How the 38-year-old poll strategist goes about this task in his UP mission will be worth waiting for. Already, speculations are rife that he wants Priyanka Gandhi to lead the Congress campaign in UP so that Rahul could concentrate on the 2019 General Elections.
The 38-year-old publicity-shy backroom boy is no longer merely a campaign wizard, though. He is now expected to do multitasking back home in Bihar where Nitish has already entrusted him with a huge responsibility by appointing him as his advisor on policy and programme implementation.
In his latest role, his primary job is to ensure implementation of the seven-point development agenda known as "saat nishchay" which Nitish had unveiled in the run-up to the Assembly polls.
In an apparent bid to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi's package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar during the polls, Nitish had announced his own ambitious roadmap for all-round development of the state. His agenda focused on seven key areas such as 24-hours electricity, potable water, toilet at each home and concrete lanes in all the villages besides 35 per cent quota for women in all government jobs, subsidised loan to students and establishment of a chain of technical institutions across the state. A sum of Rs 2.70 lakh crore was estimated to be the actual cost for fulfilling these goals.
Nitish had promised that he would implement all the seven programmes in the next five years if he was re-elected in the polls. After getting a massive mandate, Nitish set out to accomplish his mission soon after taking oath as the chief minister. The cabinet subsequently approved the proposal for fixing 35 per cent reservation to women in all jobs in no time. The government followed it up by providing budgetary allocations for the implementation of the rest of his resolutions.
The state government also set up Bihar Development Mission quickly to oversee its implementation exclusively. Kishor has, of course, been appointed one of the members of the new body. Nitish obviously kept faith in his abilities not merely as an election strategist but also as an advisor and administrator.
Kishor, who has a ministerial rank in Bihar, may well have to face two main hurdles in his new assignment in the state. First, the fund crunch may not help him give the schemes the desired push. Second, he may have to face strong opposition from a section of bureaucrats in the state over his "interference".
Kishor is not known to have worked under bureaucrats even during his stint with Modi. Even in the Congress, he will report directly to Rahul Gandhi. During Bihar elections last year, he had reported only to Nitish. He apparently wants to function independently without any bureaucratic strings attached to his job.
This may cause heartburns to many senior officers at the state secretariat who are already viewing his entry as a veritable encroachment on their territory. The recent decision of a 1983-batch IAS officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh to seek voluntary retirement on "health grounds" a year before his superannuation is already being linked to Kishor's growing influence in the corridors of power.
Kishor, therefore, needs to take the bureaucrats into confidence and work in tandem with them without treading on their toes as a "rank outsider". Many of them have worked under Nitish for years and delivered results time and again. They should not ever get an impression that Prashant has been imposed on them merely to overrule them in their work.
Nitish, on his part, also needs to reassure his senior bureaucrats that Kishor has not been brought to usurp anybody's authority but to provide his professional expertise for Bihar's development in his role of an advisor. Any confusion over Kishor's role within the bureaucracy will adversely affect Nitish's growth agenda.