Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar With his Campaign Strategist Prashant Kishor
The man credited with the electoral successes of Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi has received an expression of interest from Mamata Banerjee, though she may not really need him. West Bengal is due for polls next year and the ruling Trinamool Congress has approached Prashant Kishor, the strategist who has two massive election victories in his bag.
Sources say after Nitish Kumar's spectacular victory in the Bihar polls, the Trinamool has contacted Mr Kishor and has arranged a meeting with him later this week.
Mamata Banerjee was quoted by The Telegraph newspaper as saying: ""There hasn't been any discussion with him as of now.... How can I tell you?"
Anti-BJP parties read the Bihar verdict as a turning point. Ms Banerjee, who strongly supported Nitish Kumar, is seen as well-placed to retain power in the state after a series of local poll wins. Sources say her party wants to focus on the margin of victory.
Prashant Kishor, who led the backroom operations in Nitish Kumar's poll campaign, has emerged as the man with the Midas touch after two straight successes in two years.
The 37-year-old directed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national election campaign last year and peppered it with innovative ideas like "Chai pe Charcha (a discussion over tea)" and 3D hologram rallies.
A few months after PM Modi took power, Mr Kishore switched over to one of his sharpest critics, Nitish Kumar.
For the Bihar Chief Minister, 'chai pe charcha' morphed into "parcha pe charcha" or discussion over pamphlets, which asked people for feedback on the state government's performance in the last 10 years. To take the outreach further, the catchy "Har Ghar Dastak" (knock on every door) phrase was born.
Mr Kishor quit a UN 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.
His team says that his tested formula is perception-building or creating a buzz around a personality using a combination of mass-contact programmes, hoardings and witty social media posts.