Kanhaiya Kumar, Prashant Kishor in Forbes top personalities of 2020 list

PATNA: Two youth leaders from Bihar — poll strategist Prashant Kishor, also a Janata Dal (United) national Vice President; and Kanhaiya Kumar, former President of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union — figure among the Forbes world’s top 20 personalities of 2020. The magazine has projected Kishor as a ‘deciding figure’ in politics over the next decade.

Kishor shot into prominence in 2009 when he aligned with the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to strategise the 2014 general elections for the BJP, which pitchforked the latter as the PM. He is credited with introducing the Facebook campaigning concept in India.

Later, Kishor, a native of Buxar in Bihar, helped Punjab Congress leader Amarinder Singh and V Jagan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh.

At present, he is involved in Tamil Nadu to help chalk out future election strategies for Dravidian parties as consultant and political strategist, while helping out plan the campaign for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party for the 2020 Delhi polls. He is also involved in chalking out TMC chief and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s Assembly poll campaign.