TDP denies reports of hiring Prashant Kishor's poltical consultancy IPAC

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Lanka Dinakar on Friday dismissed reports that party chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had plans to rope in the consultancy, mentored by political strategist Prashant Kishor.

Dubbing the claims as "propaganda", Dinakar told ANI, "N Chandrababu Naidu is introspecting the party's defeat in the recent State Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, there are rumours and propaganda that TDP is going to use the services of Prashant Kishor's IPAC but we haven't taken any such decision. We strongly condemn this propaganda."

Issuing a clarification, he maintained that the TDP is a cadre-based party and it does not need any consultant's services.

Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also met with the IPAC founder and Janata Dal (U) vice president Kishor.

Kishor was recently credited with scripting Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's spectacular victory in Andhra Pradesh where his party YSRCP bagged 151 out of 175 Assembly seats. In 2015, Kishore was also said to have played a role in bringing Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JD(U) under the banner of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls.

Kishor had joined active politics last year in September when he was made a Vice President of JD(U) by party chief Nitish Kumar.