Prashant Kishor designed Nitish Kumar's winning campaign for the Bihar assembly elections. (File photo)
Prashant Kishor, master election strategist, will now be ranked equal to a Cabinet minister in Bihar, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appointing him as his Adviser on policy and programme implementation.
Mr Kishor, who designed Nitish Kumar's winning campaign for the Bihar assembly elections in November last, will be charged with overseeing the implementation of what is called the "7 nishchay (resolve)" - promises that the chief minister made to the state while seeking another term.
"7 Nischay," which include schemes like reservation for women and power supply to each household, were part of the Nitish Kumar strategy that Prashant Kishor crafted for the Bihar election, his second big success.
Mr Kishor, 37, had first shot to fame as the man who designed some of the most successful elements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national election campaign, including the "chai pe charcha" or a discussion over tea and 3D hologram rallies.
Not too long after the BJP swept to power at the Centre, Mr Kishor began managing the campaign of Nitish Kumar, one of PM Modi's sharpest critics.
He has recently confirmed that he is now headed to help craft the campaign of the Congress' Amrinder Singh, who seeks to lead his party to a comeback in assembly elections in Punjab next year. There has been some talk of a longer assignment with the Congress, if the Punjab experiment works well.
Prashant Kishor's team says that his tested formula for election campaigns is perception-building or creating a buzz around a personality using a combination of mass-contact programmes, hoardings and witty social media posts.
His Punjab assignment will not interfere with his new appointment in Bihar, sources said.
Prashant Kishor quit a United Nation health expert's job in Africa and returned to India in 2011. His group, the Indian Political Action Committee or I-PAC, features mostly MBAs and Ivy League and IIT graduates.