Delhi:
Master strategist Prashant Kishor has new plan for Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 mission and it doesn’t include the BJP. Instead, Kishor wants Banerjee to focus on her mercurial temperament. The West Bengal Chief Minister, who has been embroiled in a long-standing turf war with the BJP-ruled government at the Centre, has been reportedly told to soften her tone and focus on governance. Part of this new plan is ‘Didi Ke Bol’ campaign, which will help Mamata to reach out to the masses and give crucial voters data to Prashant Kishor’s IPAC.
According to an NDTV report, the new plan is more about helping Mamata Banerjee to manage her anger and not react to BJP’s remarks. It also means that instead of targeting BJP, Trinamool Congress should focus on its work and policies. Kishore, who has helped Nitish Kumar and Jagan Mohan Reddy in winning Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, is also credited for Narendra Modi’s stellar victory in 2014. Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, has emerged as the powerful voice for the fragmented Opposition. But off late, her very public outbursts have given fodder to the BJP. Especially, the way she openly rebuked those chanting ‘Jai Shri ram’ helped the BJP in forming the Trinamool is anti-Hindu narrative.
So, in backdrop of the bitter war of words between the BJP top brass and Mamata Banerjee, Prashant Kishor wants Didi to change her strategy and become all about policies, regulations and work done by her government for the people of Bengal.
The Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), Prashant Kishor’s company, has been working on preparing a roadmap for the next Assembly polls in the state.
Previously, Prashant Kishor met Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Only a few party leaders were aware of what transpired at the meeting.
Reeling under the aftermath of the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections, Banerjee is understood to have taken help of Kishor to infuse new energy into the cadre. But this ‘help’ has lots of political ramifications for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is in an alliance with the BJP.
However, the JDU distanced itself from Kishor’s new assignment in Bengal. Senior JDU leader KC Tygai was quoted as saying that people had no qualms over Kishor helping out Jagan Mohan Reddy. There was no concern, so why now? He also said that the JDU has nothing to do with Prashant Kishor’s private firm and its dealings.
Prashant, who was with Jaganmohan Reddy earlier, played a pivotal role in YSR Congress chief Jagan Reddy's sweep in Andhra Pradesh, where the incumbent Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's party was voted out of power. After winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats and over 150 of the 175 assembly constituencies, Jagan Reddy took power in the state for the first time.
