PK's leap of faith in Bihar is not without its hurdles

Although he has made the announcement to actively plunge into Bihar politics, election strategist and I-PAC founder Prashant Kishor will have to cross several hurdles, including battling de-emphasization from bigger parties in the state, understanding intricate caste equation, as well as penetrating the rural voter base, writes ETV Bharat's Amit Bhelari.

Patna: The announcement of poll strategist Prashant Kishor entering active politics has created political ripples in Bihar. Leaders are issuing statements and counter statements in a bid to highlight that Kishor will not make a significant difference even if he floats his own party. Though PK hails from Bihar, he will have several hurdles to cross before he achieves his goal. The politics in Bihar always revolves around caste and it would be a tough task for him to adjust. Making strategies for political parties and becoming a part of them are two different things, and PK has to prove himself when it comes to the latter.

The timing of making such an announcement is also significant as the talks with Congress to join the party failed in the national capital. The tweet which he posted on Monday morning from his official Twitter handle left people in a buzz. “My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy & 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 issue & the path to “Jan Suraj" Peoples Good Governance,” Prashant Kishor said in his tweet on Monday with the tagline "Shuruaat Bihar se (beginning from Bihar)"

Big state-level politicians such as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi pretended as if they had nothing to do with Kishor. However, it's a bitter truth that there was a time when BJP and JDU formed the government with the help of PK, be it the 2014 Lok Sabha poll or 2015 assembly election in Bihar. When inquired about Prashant Kishor by the media, the CM replied saying he has nothing to do with the election strategist. Similarly, Sushil Modi made a veiled attack on PK, claiming that there was no future of any more political parties in Bihar.

The aforementioned came through a statement by Modi on Monday, which noted that there was no future for other political parties, apart from the four existing parties, in Bihar. ”In democracy, anyone has the right to do political experiments or make political parties. There are hundreds of political parties in the country. If anyone wants to make a new canal, it would not affect the evergreen rivers,” Modi said in his tweet.

ETV Bharat spoke to several political experts who explained that though PK does not have any political legacy, it would be difficult for others to ignore him. Although he has several obstacles, only time would define the outcome of his political plunge. Writer of the famous book Gopalganj to Raisina and senior journalist Nalin Verma opined that ignoring Prashant Kishor would be difficult for anyone, irrespective of what the Bihar leaders said about him.

"Before becoming the poll strategist, he worked at the United Nations for several years. This man has worked closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has direct access to all top leaders of the country. Similarly, he has worked closely with Nitish Kumar as well and there was a time when he was the most trusted aide of Nitish. The kind of access PK used to enjoy during his heyday, no politician has had so far. If PK is nothing then why did big political leaders such as Arvind Kejeriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, M K Stalin, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Captain Amarinder Singh approached him and took his help? It proves that he has the ability to bring change," Verma stressed.

Not to forget that PK has worked closely in Bihar and knows every minute detail of Bihar politics and before entering into politics he must have done his homework as far as challenges are concerned. Bihar leaders have to accept that he is not an ordinary man but a man full of ideas and innovation. Wherever he has worked, his success rate is 90 per cent. Political analysts asserted that it would be too early to predict the political future of PK.

PK, who runs a political consultancy firm on the name of I-PAC, would be making a second attempt to enter active politics. In 2020, Nitish had sacked PK for opposing the stand of JDU on the Citizenship Amendment Act. After getting sacked as JDU vice-president PK had announced to launch a campaign “Baat Bihar Ki” but it never took off. Political expert Dipak Mishra, who has worked with several leading English dailies and covered Bihar politics for more than three decades, said that to achieve success in Bihar politics, PK must have the right combination of caste.

"In the past we have examples like Puspam Priya Choudhary and Parveen Amanullah of Plurals Party and AAP respectively making an attempt to bring change but nothing happened because they failed to understand the caste system of Bihar. India's oldest party Congress who ruled Bihar for several years is struggling in Bihar and their performance is weak because they lack caste combination. PK has to first win over the caste combination as Bihar is a caste driven society. No doubt, PK is a man of ideas and does a lot of experiments which makes him different from others and that's his advantage as well. He has to really work hard to establish himself."

Nitish today may ignore PK by saying that he has nothing to do with him, but there was a time when PK and Nitish used to walk together and Nitish had even called him 'future of Bihar'. After the Grand Alliance victory in 2015 in which PK's IPAC played a pivotal role, Nitish had made PK as his advisor, the post was equal to the cabinet rank minister. The ambitious Bihar Vikas Mission (BVM) project was the brainchild of PK and it was launched by Nitish.

Senior journalist Amarnath Tewary too stressed that PK understands the pulse of the people and is trying to fill the vacuum space which has been created with more than thirty years of Lalu-Nitish regime.

"PK feels that people are fed up with Nitish and Lalu regime and there is a need for change in Bihar politics the way it happened with Arvind Kejriwal when he threw out Congress and BJP rule in New Delhi. He wants to fill that vacuum space. However, it won't be an easy task for him. Matching the profile of Lalu-Nitish is a big challenge for Prashant Kishor. Local issues and local leaders matter a lot in Bihar. He may penetrate urban areas but in rural areas, it is a difficult task. To sustain in politics he needs alliance. He also needs to win the trust of the people who have a feudal mindset," Tewary said.

Sources in the I-PAC said that in all likelihood, he will hold a press conference on May 5 to announce his future plan in which he will speak to all sections of people to understand the social and political scenario of Bihar at present. Another political expert Dr Sanjay Kumar opined that nobody can outrightly reject or accept him and only time will tell how successful he would be in future.

"Making strategies for others by charging money and running a political party are two different things. It is not an easy task to replace the old parties and create a seperate space among people. It's true that a multi-party system exists in democracy and everyone has the right to experiment but only time will tell whether PK succeeds in his goal or not," he said.