After Mamata Banerjee, Prashant Kishor's IPAC to help another NDA rival; group teams up with AAP ahead of Delhi polls

Inspired by Nitish Kumar and BJP’s success in past elections, Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party has also roped in Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) to manage its campaign ahead of the Delhi elections. Delhi chief minister and party’ national convener Kejriwal announced this on social media on Saturday.  “Happy to share that IndianPAC is coming on-board with us. Welcome aboard!” the chief minister tweeted. The Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) replied to the tweet, saying the AAP was seen as the toughest opponent during Punjab polls. Kishor’s electioneering machine worked behind the scenes for the Congress in Punjab. “After Punjab results, we acknowledged you as the toughest opponent that we have ever faced. Happy to join forces now with Kejriwal and AAP,” the I-PAC said in a tweet. Elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are due early next year. [caption id=“attachment_7364371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Arvind Kejriwal. Image courtesy: Twitter@ArvindKejriwal[/caption] The political advocacy group also helped in electioneering campaign of Narendra Modi in 2014 when he was BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. The I-PAC had used innovative programmes such as ‘chai par charcha’ in the campaign. Kishor is now the national vice-president of Bihar’s Janata Dal (United), a key ally of the BJP. The I-PAC has worked on a number of successful campaigns since 2014, including the one that brought the JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to power in 2015. The organisation also helped Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy win both state and general elections. I-PAC is currently working on the Trinamool Congress’ re-election campaign for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls to aid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s bid for a third consecutive term. The political consultancy firm also successfully handled the campaign for Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Now it will help Kejriwal secure a second term as chief minister in Delhi Assembly elections. Meanwhile, this comes amid reports of discontent brewing between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish and Kishor, who is also the JD(U) vice president over the party’s stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act. While the JD(U) voted in favour of the Bill in the Lok Sabha as well in the Rajya Sabha, Kishor declared that he was “not giving up” his opposition to the legislation while its Muslim MLAs and MLCs propose to seek an audience with the chief minister who heads the party and apprise him of their anxieties. JD(U) is an NDA ally which is a key opponent of AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls. However, Kishor has never shied away from helping rival parties in campaign while maintaining his position in the JD(U). He has sought to distance his political consultancy firm’s dealings with the politics of NDA and JD(U). With inputs from PTI