Prashant Kishor of Jan Suraj has reportedly revealed that he charges more than ₹100 crore as a fee when providing election strategy services to political parties or leaders. Prashant Kishor made this disclosure on October 31 while campaigning for the upcoming Bihar bypolls, India Today reported.
Addressing an event in Belaganj, Prashant Kishor spoke to an audience that included members of the Muslim community, explaining that people often question him about the source of funding for his campaigns.
“Ten governments in different states are running on my strategies. Do you think I won’t have enough money to set up tents and canopies for my campaign? Do you think I am that weak? In Bihar, no one has heard of fees like mine. If I advise someone in just one election, my fee is ₹100 crore or even more. For the next two years, I can continue to fund my campaign with just one such election advice,” India Today quoted Prashant Kishor as saying.
Besides Belaganj, by-elections will be held in Imamganj, Ramgarh and Tarari assembly constituencies. All the seats fell vacant earlier this year when the respective MLAs resigned upon election to the Lok Sabha.
Prashant Kishor has worked as a political strategist with several major political parties in India.
Bharatiya Janata Party: Prashant Kishor first gained attention as the key strategist for Narendra Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign, which helped secure a sweeping victory for the BJP.
Janata Dal (United): Prashant Kishor played a significant role in the 2015 Bihar assembly election, where he supported Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the RJD-Congress alliance, leading to their victory over the BJP.
Congress: Prashant Kishor worked with Congress for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, although the campaign did not yield a successful outcome. However, he later helped the Congress secure a victory in the 2021 Punjab assembly elections.
YSR Congress Party: Kishor advised Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party for the 2019 Andhra Pradesh assembly election, resulting in a significant win for YSRCP.
Trinamool Congress: In the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, Kishor’s strategy was instrumental in helping Mamata Banerjee and the TMC retain power despite a tough challenge from the BJP.
Aam Aadmi Party: He briefly advised AAP during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, contributing to its landslide victory in the state.
Centre can’t implement UCC unless Muslims taken into confidence: Prashant Kishor
On Friday, the Jan Suraj chief said the Centre cannot implement the Uniform Civil Code in the country unless the Muslim community is taken into confidence.
He added that in a democracy, before introducing a law, the government must gain the confidence of the people who will be affected by it.
“Whether the Uniform Civil Code should be implemented or not remains to be a big debate. Unless the Muslim population, which is 20% of the country’s population, is taken into confidence, you cannot implement this kind of radical law,” Prashant Kishor told news agency ANI.
“We saw protests all over the country in the case of CAA-NRC. Unless the government takes into confidence the people who will be affected by the law, it cannot be implemented,” he added.
He pointed out the Centre’s revocation of farm laws as an example of what will happen when the stakeholders are not taken into confidence before bringing laws.