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Andhra Pradesh: Prashant Kishore -Naidu Meet : Focus on 2024 elections

6 months ago
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chandrababu meeting prashant

In a surprising turn of events, political strategist Prashant Kishor met with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Chandrababu Naidu at his residence in Undavalli yesterday (Dec 23rd) afternoon, accompanied by TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh. Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC team worked with the YSRCP in the 2019 elections, contributing to their victory. Currently, I-PAC is engaged in supporting the YSRCP in Andhra. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor’s meeting with Naidu marks an unprecedented development in state politics. Following the Bengal elections, Prashant Kishor announced his departure from his career as a political strategist. He handed over the organisation I-PAC to his colleagues and entered into direct politics, launching the Jan-Suraj Yatra in Bihar.

The news surprised many this afternoon (December 23rd) when Nara Lokesh and Prashant Kishore landed together in Vijayawada. From the Gannavaram airport, they proceeded to Naidu’s residence in the same car at Undavalli and held discussions with Naidu. According to some reports, the political strategist Robin Sharma’s Showtime Consulting team also attended the meeting, discussing the current political scenario in Andhra Pradesh.

Speculations had been circulating for the past couple of months about Prashant Kishor joining hands with the Telugu Desam Party as a political strategist for the 2024 elections. According to reports, Nara Lokesh had traveled to Kolkata months ago, where he met Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Banerjee facilitated a meeting between Lokesh and Prashant Kishor, sparking speculations that both were engaged in discussions about the 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh, and Lokesh sought PK’s help in the polls. The latest meeting incident between PK and Naidu confirms that this was more than just speculation.

Also Read: Naidu’s Shift: From Targeting Christianity to Wooing Their Votes

Has TDP also approached Sunil Kanugolu?

There have been speculations that Naidu had discussions with Sunil Kanugolu, who runs the political consultancy Inclusive Minds. However, Kanugolu has not shown interest in working with them. Kanugolu’s strategies played a crucial role in helping the Congress win in the Karnataka and Telangana state elections this year. In fact, Sunil Kanugolu’s Inclusive Minds had previously worked for TDP in Andhra for 1 or 2 years. According to reports, Kanugolu was not pleased to continue working for TDP, especially when another organization, Robin Sharma’s Showtime Consultancy, was also involved in TDP’s political strategies. Consequently, Kanugolu said bye bye to TDP and joined hands with the Congress.

Prashant Kishor’s re-entry as a political strategist?

A general notion that Prashant Kishor (PK) usually teams up with the party that is likely to win, except in the Uttar Pradesh 2017 and Goa 2022 elections, where his team supported parties that didn’t win. In August this year, PK clarified in an interview with ‘The News Minute’ that he’s sticking to his decision of not working with political parties anymore. However, recent events suggest that PK might be changing his mind and returning as a political strategist. Interestingly, after the 2019 elections, Naidu accused Prashant Kishor of various things, calling him a ‘Bihari Dacoit’ and blaming him for removing lakhs of votes in Andhra Pradesh. PK responded by saying that such baseless accusations are expected when politicians are facing imminent defeat.

However, post the meeting Prashant Kishore clariefied that, the meeting is just a courtesy call and should not be taken otherwise.

IPAC clarification..

Soon after the PK met Naidu, Minister Ambati Rambabu took to Twitter, making satirical comments, stating, “What can a mestry do if the material itself is not worthy?” Now, the question arises: Prashant Kishor, who has a good rapport with Jagan, why has suddenly switched sides and aligned with Naidu. Will Prashant Kishor alone work as a political consultant for the TDP, or will his colleagues team I-PAC, currently working for the YSRCP, also switch sides?. IPAC organisation in a tweet clarified it saying they are dedicated to work for YSRCP victory in 2024 elections. PK after the meeting with Naidu said with media its just a ‘courtsey meeting’, the truth behind this meeting may unfold in coming days, whether PK will work for TDP or he will guide them from behind the scenes.

Internet showed a mirror to TDP

As soon as the 3 hour long meeting started, Internet was buzzing with memes and videos of past abuses of TDP leaders including chandrababu Naidu and TDP media negative reporting on Prashant kishore.

Many are questioning, what happened to TDP that they have to bring in Robbin Sharma led Showtime, the Sunil Kanugolu’s team and now Prashant Kishore himself. Will too many chefs spoil the broth for TDP?

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