In a major turn-around plan, political strategist Prashant Kishor, on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have to struggle to cross even the double-digit mark in the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls. If his prediction proves wrong, he might quit, said Kishor who is a major political strategist behind many elections in the last one decade.
"For all the hype AMPLIFIED by a section of supportive media, in reality BJP will struggle to CROSS DOUBLE DIGITS in West Bengal," he tweeted, and vowed to "quit this space" if proven wrong. "PS: Please save this tweet and if BJP does any better I must quit this space!" he added.
Kishor's tweet comes at a time when BJP reinforced its presence in the state with senior cabinet ministers constantly visiting the state to defeat the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections. Going by the parliamentary seats won by BJP in the state 18 out of the 42 seats, BJP is confident to put up a better show with Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweights such as Suvendu Adhikari joining its ranks.
Kishor's strategy
Kishor, whose Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) was a strategy planner for several campaigns that led to significant victories in the last one decade, is currently working with the ruling TMC in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections.
As part of IPAC's strategy, many Trinamool Congress MPs and MLAs have recently opened social media accounts, though many of them were clueless about the social media presence and its impact during the elections.
But the I-PAC, best known for bringing Narendra Modi and the BJP to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and several regional parties in the state assembly elections later, has been picked by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to turn around the aggressive electoral fight unleashed by BJP recently in the state.
Though the TMC leadership appears to be happy with his poll strategy, many district-level leaders are reportedly not comfortable with Kishor's growing influence within the party and their role being sidelined to social media.
However, Kishor is focusing on positive issues like buses that have been arranged for migrants, countering "misleading gossip", and resumption of electricity service post-Cyclone Amphan to highlight the state government's achievements in the state.
Going by the turn around scored by Aam Aadmi Party's victory in Delhi Assembly elections in February 2020, TMC is hoping to repeat a similar feat in the state with the help of I-PAC.
