Patna: Political strategist and vice-president of Janata Dal (United), Prashant Kishor, is bringing back to Bihar what has originally been known as the vintage style of becoming a political leader in the state.
Kishor is enhancing JD(U)’s poll game in Bihar, one university election at a time. After JD(U)’s record-breaking win at the Patna University elections, Bihar CM’s right-hand man has now set his eyes upon Tilkamangi University elections in Bhagalpur.
Narendra Modi’ former political aide, Kishor’s efforts in the town make university elections look nothing less than state-polls.
A 20-member team has been constituted by the party with Kishor at its helm. A local hotel has been rented in the city to prevent poaching of JD(U) student leaders. The entire team has been camping in Bhagalpur since the last two days.
Kishor also visited the college on Tuesday under wraps and is said to have met the college principal, Dr Sanjay Kumar.
JD(U), which did not participate in the student union election last year, is contesting on all posts on this occasion.
Similar efforts were made by the party’s vice-president during Patna University Students’ Union elections which resulted in JD(U) winning by a record margin of 1300 votes, the highest so far in the history of Patna University. The previous record was set by Union Minister Ashwini Choubey, who won by 900-plus votes in the 1970s.
The win, attributed to Kishor’s efforts to revamp the party’s student wing, was the second time the JD(U) students' wing won since the 2012 student union elections.
Student politics is not new to Bihar. Whether it was former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav or current chief minister Nitish Kumar, several tall leaders have emerged from universities.
Lalu entered into student politics as general secretary of the Patna University Students' Union, and became its president in 1973. Similarly, Kumar, too, rose to political prominence after he participated in Jayaprakash Narayan's movement between 1974 and 1977.
It was Nitish Kumar's government, according to the Lyngdoh Committee Report, that approved to hold the students' union elections in Bihar. The Lyngdoh panel, set up on the basis of a Supreme Court directive, had in 2006 recommended that students' unions election should be held across the country.
Patna University Student Union president Mohit Prakash immediately after winning the election went on record to say, “Prashant Kishor is our senior and guided us to victory.”
Kishor’s inclination towards students can be ascertained from the fact that just after being appointed as the vice president of JD(U), Kishor had invited youngsters to join his team ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Individuals were invited for a test after filling a form which was available on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The youths were asked to fill details like name, father's name, contact information, occupation, parliamentary constituency, assembly constituency, gram panchayat and voter card number.
Interestingly, the candidates also had to provide details on how many friends they had on Facebook.
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