Meet Assam's son-in-law who gave Bihar to Nitish

OUR BUREAU & Agencies

GUWAHATI/ PAT, Nov 9: When Prime Minister rendra Modi and his close confidante and BJP president Amit Shah ditched him, little did they realize that it would prove costly for them. But Sunday, the 8th of November, 2015, proved that a man who can build up an image can also bring it down. The Hindi one liner is pertinent here --- Jo am de sakta hai, woh am bigaad bhi sakta hai.

While the Bihar electorate was being hailed for voting the Nitish Kumar-led grand alliance to power, the me of Prashant Kishor cropped up again --- the same Prashant Kishor who was the architect of the 'Modi Wave' in 2013-14.

For many it was a war between Nitish-Lalu and Modi-Shah, but very few know that it was also a war between Prashant Kishor and Modi-Shah.

A workaholic, Prashant Kishor's only condition to Nitish Kumar before shifting to Bihar was that Kumar should be accessible to Kishor 24x7. The same condition was also set for Modi, when the duo started working together in 2012. The man who occupied the upper floor of the Chief Minister's bungalow in Ahmedabad, was allotted the room next to Nitish Kumar's bedroom in 7 Circular Road of Pat.

Soon after taking charge as the chief strategist of Nitish Kumar, Kishor spotted the points he can bank upon to build an image for Kumar. Modi's 'Jungle Raj' jibe gave him that much needed point. He got a clear picture that the BJP didn't want the RJD and the JD (U) to come together. So Kishor undertook the herculean task of uniting Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad (both once worked together in the youth wing of Jay Prakash rayan's Jata Dal) and also the Congress.

Projecting Lalu as the star campaigner, Kishor sharpened the 'Vikas Purush' image of Nitish and polished it further to counter Modi's image. Kishor also opted out of putting advertisements of the Mahagatbandhan on TV and newspapers, but instead favoured putting up hoardings all across Bihar. The first being the one at Pat's busiest intersection, the Income Tax roundabout which said, "Bihar mein bahar ho, phir se Nitish Kumar ho", which was changed in a matter of few minutes on Sunday afternoon to-'Haan Bhaiya Bihar me Bahar Hai, Mr Kumar phir ek baar hai".

It was, however, not smooth sailing for Kishor while working with the grand alliance. Many suspected him to be an agent placed inside the JD (U) by Modi. Kishor ignored all the talk about him and focused upon his goal, also playing the role of a key mediator between Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar --- both having much faith in Kishor.

Married to an Assamese girl, Kishor and his wife, who is a doctor by profession, were blessed with a baby in 2011. His family stays in Delhi. As for the last couple of months, Kishor was busy in Bihar drawing strategies for the grand alliance, his friends now feel that he should be back home for some time and take a much-deserved rest.

Kishor's  mission in Bihar has been accomplished but at the same time, the queue outside his residence is growing longer and longer. Though it is unlikely that Nitish will part ways with him soon, rivals of the BJP in Assam, West Bengal, Punjab etc who are going for polls next year will definitely try to keep Kishor in the back office.