KCR confirms association with Prashant Kishor; sure of bagging 95-105 seats in Telangana

In an important development on Monday, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao confirmed that poll strategist and Indian Political Action Committee founder Prashant Kishor is working with him. Speculation about Kishor's association with TRS had gained traction after he visited the multi-purpose Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in February accompanied by actor Prakash Raj who was recently spotted with KCR. Addressing a press conference, the Telangana CM also predicted that his party will win 95-105 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls amid a growing challenge from BJP.

KCR remarked, "I do everything openly not in secret. I am holding discussions with Prashant Kishor. Prashant Kishor is working with me to bring about a change in the entire country. What is the problem?"

He added, "Prashant Kishor is my best friend for the last 7-8 years. One must know it. And remember, Prashant Kishor has never taken money for his work throughout his life. He is not a paid worker". Contending that people are not aware of the poll strategist's commitment towards the nation, the TRS supremo lamented that a good man was being defamed.

Prashant Kishor's pan-party influence

After gaining acclaim owing to his crucial role in BJP winning a majority on its own in the 2014 General election, Kishor's IPAC has run successful campaigns for AAP (2015 Delhi Assembly election), Mahagatbandhan (2015 Bihar Assembly election), Congress (2017 Punjab Assembly election), YSCRP (Andhra Pradesh Assembly election), DMK (Tamil Nadu Assembly election) and TMC (West Bengal Assembly election). However, he failed to propel the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance to victory in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls. On March 1, Prashant Kishor was appointed as Punjab CM Amarinder Singh's Principal Advisor.

While the poll strategist was tasked Congress' election campaign for the Punjab Assembly election due next year, he resigned from this post on August 5 itself citing that he wanted to take a "temporary break" from an active role in public life. This came in the wake of his decision to quit the political strategy space after the West Bengal Assembly polls. While he reportedly played a key role in TMC's Goa election campaign, the party drew a blank whereas its ally MGP joined hands with BJP after the election.