Election strategist Prashant Kishor joins JD(U)

Prashant Kishor, a political strategist and the man behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thumping victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, joined the Janata Dal (United) in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar here on Sunday.

The official announcement of him joining the JD(U) was made in the party's state executive meeting today.

Ahead of joining the party, he had tweeted, "Excited to start my new journey from Bihar!"

Kishor had earlier said that he would not be a part of any political party in the forthcoming 2019 general elections as he is planning to return to the grassroots and work with people.

In his first-ever public interaction at an event at the Indian School of Business ISB Leadership Summit on September 10, Kishor said, "I will not be part of the 2019 election campaign in the manner and form seen for last four-five years. I want to go back to the grassroots and work with the people. In the past six years, I have worked with the leaders. I will either go to Gujarat, where I have worked before or Bihar, my birthplace," he had said.

The election strategist had even brushed aside reports of him joining politics. He went on to reveal that he and Prime Minister Modi had a little disagreement over the lateral entry of people into the government, following which Kishor decided to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp.

Kishor, as an election strategist, was also credited in bringing Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JD(U) under the banner of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls.