Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who is on his maiden tour of Bihar after his appointment as the national vice-president of JD(U), Monday interacted with hundreds of young party activists here.
The party meeting was held at 7, Circular Road
adjacent to the official residence of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is the JD(U)s national president where Kishor listened to feedbacks from young men and women about the partys ground-level situation and offered them tips in return.
According to party sources, Kishor who had joined the JD(U) only last month sought to underscore before the party cadres that unlike other political parties, theirs was not a family-driven one and youngsters with talent and ambition could aspire to reach the top.
Kishor, who hails from a non-political family, cited his own example besides those of a number of other leaders in the party who were said to have been given preference over more conventional candidates in the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the sources said.
Earlier, on Sunday, Kishor had inducted nearly 200 young men and women into the party, who were selected after a professional screening process that included submission of bio-data followed by interviews.
The party sources also said that some of the young JD(U) workers complained about "high-handedness of the bureaucracy".
Kishor assured them that their grievances would be looked into but made it clear that they must remain committed to pursuing politics as a means of public service and not get swayed by the glamour of power.
Kishor had first come into the limelight when he managed the poll campaign of Narendra Modi then the BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections held in 2014. He parted ways with the BJP later on and worked for Kumar, who returned to power with a thumping majority the following year.
Kishor is said to have played the important role of a go-between for Kumar and his arch rival Lalu Prasad, both of whom had fought the 2015 assembly polls as alliance partners.
With the NDA grappling with the thorny issue of seat-sharing in Bihar, mainly between the major partners BJP and JD(U), Kishor is also expected to put to use his analytical skills in helping the parties arrive at a formula that could ensure maximum electoral success.
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