Bihar, Sep 16(Zee News): Election strategist Prashant Kishor on Sunday joined the Janata Dal United (JDU) in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna, Bihar.
After spearheading poll campaigns for the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, election strategist Prashant Kishor is now set to make his own political debut.
Kishor seems all set to go full throttle in his political endeavour. Taking to microblogging site Twitter on Sunday morning, he said, “Excited to start my new journey from Bihar!”
The poll strategist has shared a good relationship with Nitish Kumar since the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections, when his Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) campaign for the JDU leader. Nitish was the face of the Mahagathbandhan, comprising the JDU, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress party.
His campaign strategy ensured victory for Nitish Kumar in the state Assembly elections. Following the results, Prashant Kishor was appointed by the JDU leader as an advisor to his government on policies and programme implementation.
Kishor’s appointment was challenged in the Supreme Court through a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal. The top court, however, dismissed his PIL saying the Chief Minister had done nothing wrong in appointing Kishor as his advisor.
A bench headed by then Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice SK Kaul, had said that the Chief Minister was not an expert on all issue and had full authority to appoint advisors for seeking suggestions on issues of public importance.
"He (Nitish Kumar) is chief minister. He can seek advice on various subjects of public importance. He can appoint anyone as his advisor and can pay them accordingly. The chief minister is not an expert who knows everything. There is nothing wrong in the appointment," the bench had said.
Kishor is a public health expert by training and had formerly worked with the United Nations for eight years.