Poll strategist Prashant Kishor had said on May 2 last year, the day results of the West Bengal Assembly polls were announced, that he would be leaving the strategy space and exploring politics for himself. Exactly a year later, he announced on Twitter that he was “turning a new page” from what he had been doing before, hinting at the formation of a new political outfit based on “Suraaj” or good governance, starting from his home State of Bihar.
“My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy and help shape pro-people policy led to a 10-year rollercoaster ride. As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters, THE PEOPLE, to better understand the issues and path to ‘Jan Suraaj’ – Peoples Good Governance. Shuruat #Bihar se (starting from Bihar)”, he tweeted. He is expected to elaborate on his plans at a press conference in Patna on May 5th.
This announcement comes after talks between Mr. Kishor and the Congress on the former joining the party with a specific revival plan fell through. Sources close to Mr. Kishor told The Hindu that while plans to launch a political party were yet to fructify, the exploration of issues leading to the formation of a political party had started.
“Just as Gandhiji did not at once come up with his political and social ideas, he travelled and went among the people to understand what their real problems are before giving shape to his ideas, so will Prashant Kishor do,” said a source.
“The idea is, of course, to possibly move to electoral politics, but not on the basis of any ‘model’ like Gujarat model or Kejriwal model or this or that, but on ideas of good governance. The tweet says the beginning is to be from Bihar, therefore its clear that it’s not limited to Bihar alone,” said the source.
The Indian Political Action Committee, a company associated with Mr. Kishor, has however signed up with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi last week and it is not clear what role the outfit will play in his future political project.
