YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress has managed to stage a turnaround in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He absolutely decimated Naidu in the assembly polls and the Lok Sabha polls held simultaneously in the state. As it turns out, political strategist, Prashant Kishor, is the man behind Jagan’s campaign strategy. This just adds up to the list of Kishor’s stellar performances. His sheer prowess is being widely acknowledged on social media. Prashant Kishor also seemed pretty happy with the management of yet another successful poll campaign. He tweeted, “Thank you Andhra and colleagues at @IndianPAC for the landslide victory. Congratulations and best wishes to the new CM @ysjagan.”
Huge win for @ysjagan in Andhra in both the Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Perhaps the only non BJP party that has reason to celebrate today apart from the DMK. And a victory for the campaign run by @PrashantKishor who was with jagan today and not in Bihar. #IndiaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/HoMeK1bhwG
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) May 23, 2019
Congratulations for another stellar performance to you & your team.
— Gaurav Pandhi गौरव पांधी (@GauravPandhi) May 23, 2019
Thank you Andhra and colleagues at @IndianPAC for the landslide victory.
Congratulations and best wishes to the new CM @ysjagan— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) May 23, 2019
Prashant Kishor had shot to limelight post the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. At that time the Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), a team of 200 young and capable professionals, set up by none other than Prashant Kishor, had been instrumental in organising BJP’s election campaign. The results were for everyone to see. It was after several elections that a government came to power with an absolute majority. It’s true that there was a Modi wave across the country and massive anti-incumbency against the UPA government but the role played by the CAG cannot be undermined. The very next year, Kishor managed a much more difficult campaign. In 2015, he emerged as the man behind Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s campaign strategy in the run-up to Bihar assembly polls. With Modi wave only intensifying since 2014, it was definitely an uphill task for the JD(U)-led coalition in Bihar to stop the BJP from toppling the existing government in the state. However, Kishor proved his mettle yet again. Even if one dismisses 2014 campaign as a result of Modi wave, one cannot deny Kishor’s role as far as the brilliant campaign strategy for the Bihar polls is concerned.
Now in 2019, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s monumental victory in Andhra Pradesh shows why Kishor is best in the business. The YSR Congress president has been harbouring the ambitions of becoming Andhra Pradesh CM ever since he started his political career. His father, YS Rajasekhar Reddy passed away in a tragic helicopter crash on September 2, 2009. Ever since the death of his father, he has been aspiring to succeed his father. He finally realised his ambitions and Prashant Kishor’s brilliant campaign strategy seems to have worked wonders for him. Reddy had joined hands with Kishor’s consultancy, Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). The consultancy reportedly worked with the party on its campaign, meticulously planning the details of the campaign on every 175 assembly seats. The result is for everyone to see. YSR Congress has swept the state of Andhra Pradesh and the margin of this landslide victory has been far beyond what the pollsters had been predicting.
