Prashant Kishor likely to get 'Z' category security cover in West Bengal

Prashant Kishor likely to get 'Z' category security cover in West Bengal

Political strategist Prashant Kishor is likely to get Z-category security in West Bengal, sources told Zee News on Monday. All formalities relating to Kishor having Z-category security have been completed, the sources elaborated, adding that the details of the Personal Security Officers (PSOs) and an official order will be issued soon.

The Z category security has a security cover of 22 personnel (including 4-5 NSG Commando and police personnel).

On June 7 last year, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) had signed up political strategist Prashant Kishor to chart out the poll strategy for the party and also to counter the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of 2021 West Bengal Assembly election. A deal between TMC and Kishor's team, the I-PAC Indian Political Action Committee, was finalised on June 6, 2019. However, unlike the previous elections, Kishor will not be the face of the campaign this time and will only bring in his domain expertise and his team on board.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, had a meeting with Kishor at the state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah. The meeting lasted for 1 hour 40 minutes. It is likely that at the end of this meeting, it was decided that 'Z' category security will be provided to Prashant Kishor.

Kishor is credited for charting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his widely successful election campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Very recently, Kishor was also involved in the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress' spectacular victory in Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 out of 175 Assembly seats in May 2019. Kishor had also played a critical role in bringing the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) together under a 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) during the 2015 Bihar Assembly election.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it was seen that the BJP had made stunning inroads deep into the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal, winning 18 out the 42 Lok Sabha seats, up from just two seats in 2014. Trinamool, on the other hand, nosedived to 22 seats.