Congress ropes in Prashant Kishor for Punjab strategy

Chandigarh, Feb 13 

The opposition Congress in Punjab has roped in political strategist Prashant Kishor to plan the party's strategy for next year's assembly polls.

"The All India Congress Committee has given its approval for Prashant Kishor to assist Punjab Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections," Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said here on Saturday.

Kishor is credited with making the political strategy for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in which the BJP triumphed with a clear majority.

He also ensured a landslide victory for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in the assembly elections in November last year.

He was in talks with the Congress leadership for the Punjab assembly polls.

Amarinder Singh had earlier said the final decision on engaging Kishor will be taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Kishor had recently visited Punjab to get a first-hand experience of the political situation in the state.

The Congress, which was in power in Punjab in 2002-2007, lost in the 2007 and the 2012 polls to the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance.

The state will witness a triangular contest in the February 2017 polls, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) making it clear that it will enter the political fray aiming to form the next government.