Another feather in Prashant Kishor’s cap

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

The overwhelming victory for the Congress in Punjab has reaffirmed poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his IPAC’s position in the domain of political consultancy as someone who knows how to win elections. Having worked with Narendra Modi during the 2014 parliamentary elections and then with Nitish Kumar in the Bihar Assembly poll, the stakes were high for the master strategist, particularly due to the setbacks the Congress had been facing in others states.

The absolute majority has also silenced Kishor’s critics in the Punjab Congress, who were skeptical about hiring him. While PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh had expected the Congress tally to be around 65 seats, Kishor was hoping to get at least 74.

From building a Capt Amarinder-centric campaign to hoodwinking the Opponents in wooing turncoats at the opportune time and getting real-time feedback on the choice of candidates, the 7,000-strong IPAC team executed its strategy well to take the lead from AAP, believe to be leading earlier in the perception game.

Speaking to The Tribune, Kishor said: “It gives great satisfaction. A party pushed to the fringes has bounced back. Our strategy succeeded against AAP, which is said to have worked at the grassroots much in advance. The trends are on the expected lines.”

The IPAC team put in 11 months at the ground level along with Congress workers. The strategy group’s ‘Halke vich Captain’, job card, farmer loan waiver, free smartphone campaign and targeted roadshows helped in reaching out to the intended voters, said an IPAC member.