Samikhsya Bureau
Close on the heels of appointment of Priyanka Gandhi as the party general secretary for UP East, a rather surprising and out of the box reaction came on Wednesday from JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor, an onetime poll strategist for Rahul Gandhi.
Drawing quite a different line from BJP spokesman Sambit Patra, Mr Kishor tweeted extending good wishes to Priyanka Gandhi on her new and first formal political assignment.
“One of the most awaited entries in Indian politics is finally here!,” Mr Kishor tweeted.
He further wrote: “While people may debate the timing, exact role and position, to me, the real news is that she finally decided to take the plunge. Congratulations and best wishes to Priyanka Gandhi”.
Prashant Kishor is a well known ‘political strategist’ who has been in the past associated with the BJP and also Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
The political circle is abuzz with the claim that former UN employee’s first major political campaign was helping Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat get re-elected for a third time in 2012 and that had strengthened Mr Modi’s claim as the BJP’s prime ministerial face.
In 2016 Kishor was drafted into the Congress chief’s inner circle and was assigned works for Punjab Assembly elections. However, he could not help Congress change its political fortunes in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017.
According to analysts, at one point he was also blamed for dismal show of the Congress despite the alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party where the Congress is now out of power for about 29 years.
Prashant Kishor’s remarks on Twitter are in sharp contrast to what BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said: “One thing has been made clear today that the Congress has publicly admitted the gross failure (nakami) of the Congress president Rahul Gandhi”.
The BJP spokesman also dragged in the dynastic issue and said: “Aaj ek rajya abhishek hua hae (This is only part of dynastic politics and passing of the responsibility within a family)”.
Mr Kishor joined Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) last year and was made the party vice president in October.
Priyanka Gandhi, who has been reluctant to join politics for years now, is expected to match the vote catching ability of BJP’s most popular faces Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi region and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur.
