What do Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi and Indian political-strategist Prashant Kishor have in common?
Both love announcing retirements time and time again and both love coming back from retirements time and time again. While Afridi undo’s his retirement to trudge back to the cricketing pitch, PK does the same to trudge back to the political field. While the former wants to play cricket, the latter wants to secure the bag by orchestrating Ponzi schemes and bleeding the political opportunist leaders of the country dry.
In the left-liberal ecosystem, there are several illusions and misunderstandings. But nothing beats the description of Prashant Kishor as a master political/ electoral strategist. The left-leaning media has glorified his number-crunching abilities and has given him a ‘strategist’ tag.
Now, blindfolded by the mirage, ruling TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has also fallen for Kishore’s charm. Reportedly, KCR has allegedly invested Rs 300 crore to secure the services of Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC team, with several political experts dubbing it a Ponzi scheme.
KCR told reporters on Monday that Prashant Kishor is working with him on bringing a ‘parivartan’ (change) in the entire country.
The CM said, “I am in talks with Prashant Kishor to bring a national change. Prashant Kishor is working with me on this. Who can have a problem with this? Why are they seeing him as a bomb? Why are they crying?”
Prashant Kishor is not a paid worker: KCR
However, when asked about the alleged Rs 300 crore contract, KCR dubbed Kishor a philanthropist who was driven by his commitment to the public, “Prashant Kishor is my best friend for the last 7-8 years. He has never worked for money. He is not a paid worker. I am sorry you don’t understand his commitment to the country.”
Talking about his national ambitions and the supposed power vacuum in the country which he was attempting to fill,
KCR added, “I have clearly said there is a void, there is a vacuum in the national politics. I am pursuing national politics now. I am doing my piece of job. I have to meet so many other friends who are playing a major role in this country’s politics. We are trying to form an opinion. Thereafter, what happens, let’s see,”
KCR has been coached by PK
Over the last few months, KCR has become ultra-aggressive in attacking the NDA government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national media. If reports are to be believed, KCR is looking to conduct early elections like 2018 and simultaneously wants to carve an independent national identity for himself.
Read More: KCR is losing Telangana and the early signs are here
Targeting PM Modi and BJP incessantly is the number one ploy in Kishore’s playbook of taking on the opposition. Prashant Kishor did the same with Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and is emulating the same maneuver with KCR.
Moreover, KCR, allegedly on the insistence of Prashant Kishor has held a series of meetings with opposition leaders like Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his ally Sharad Pawar, and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren to club the anti-BJP front in recent times.
Kishor handing ‘opposition leader’ lollipops to national politics aspirants
As for Prashant Kishor, in a true Shahid Afridi-esque style, he has staged a comeback from retirement once again. After the Bengal victory, Kishor had remarked that he was stepping away from political strategist duties. However, in less than a year, he is back in business and has already found a guinea pig for his little Ponzi scheme.
It appears that Prashant Kishor gives the lollipop of ‘opposition face of the country’ to all political leaders he works with. Mamata thought the same after winning Bengal but her dreams came crashing down after the debacle in the recently concluded five state assembly elections. KCR has been hyped by Kishor to secure the bag and the poor TRS leader has taken the bait.
Read More: Prashant Kishor proves again why he is the worst political analyst around
Kishor wants a bigger role in active politics
Prashant Kishor has always harbored ambitions to enter active politics. After the victory of the BJP in the 2014 general election, he wanted to be rewarded with a seat in Rajya Sabha. However, BJP’s refusal to give him a Rajya Sabha ticket led to his defection to JD(U), and he stitched the grand alliance in the Bihar assembly election 2015.
After the grand alliance won the assembly election, Prashant Kishor was awarded Rajya Sabha seat by the party and was appointed as vice president of the party. But, after Nitish Kumar dumped RJD to join BJP, the relations between Kishor and JD(U) soured and ultimately, he was expelled from the party.
Read More: From Patna to Kolkata to Delhi: Prashant Kishor’s political ambitions know no bounds
Since then, Prashant Kishor has flirted with different political parties including TMC but hasn’t been able to get his foot in the Indian polity clearly. By brainwashing KCR, Kishor appears to have found his opening yet again. And like a useful simpleton, KCR has fallen for Kishor’s gimmick, ignoring the latter’s larger ploy at work.