Even as there have been speculations in the political circles that popular political strategist Prashant Kishor, who is presently working for YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh, has also signed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2019 general elections, his organisation suddenly came up with a statement, refuting these speculations.
In a tweet on Friday afternoon, the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) clarified that it is not working with any political party or leader other than YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh.
“If and when we do choose to work with someone, we would formally share the same. Until then, it is our humble request to all to lay the speculation to rest,” the I-PAC said in the tweet.
So, for the moment, Prashant’s team says it has no other clients, but it did not rule out the possibility of working with others. That is the reason why it said it would formally share with the media, if it decides to work with any other party or individual.
The immediate reason for Prashant team’s clarification is a report that has appeared in the national media about his latest move to launch an online platform to hunt for a leader for 2019 parliament elections.
The platform, called the National Agenda Forum, is a part-recruiting tool where people can also register to help the leader win next year's general election.
People can log on to the NAF and vote on a 10-point agenda of issues they believe India must address on priority as well as nominate a leader they believe can address those issues.
The voting closes on August 14 and results would be declared on August 15. There is a suspicion that the NAF has been floated to set the agenda for the re-nomination of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.
However, I-PAC clarified on twitter that it was more than just a survey exercise and urged the people not to draw conclusions as the process was yet to be concluded.
In March this year, there were reports that Prashant had a closed door meeting with BJP president Amit Shah, leading to speculations that he had signed up with the BJP for 2019.
The Telugu Desam Party has alleged that Prashant, who is also working for YSRC, was playing instrumental role in bringing the YSRC into the BJP fold.