Political strategist Prashant Kishor made a positive prediction for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, anticipating that the party will make a significant splash in eastern and southern states. Prashant Kishor predicted that the BJP could emerge at the top in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, which are strongholds of the opposition parties.

In a recent interview with news agency PTI, Prashant Kishor predicted that BJP can become the top party with the maximum number of seats in southern and eastern India, seeing a massive bump in vote share in Tamil Nadu.

Kishor told PTI, “I had said this a year back that for the first time, I see the BJP in double digits in Tamil Nadu in terms of vote share. They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing.”

The election strategist further added, “They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal.”

The BJP has asserted that they will garner more than 400 seats in the 520-seat Lok Sabha this election, but Prashant Kishor believes that the saffron party is unlikely to get over 370 seats.

Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala together account for 204 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha but the BJP couldn’t cross 50 seats in all these states put together either in 2014 or 2019 when it won 29 and 47 constituencies respectively.

The BJP over the years maintained its stronghold in northern and western India, but can only face heat in the upcoming elections if the opposition, especially Congress, makes sure that the former loses at least 100 seats these areas, said Kishor.

Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Kishor said, “Count the number of visits the prime minister had made to Tamil Nadu in the last five years versus Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi or any other opposition leader for that matter made in battleground states. Your fight is in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh but you are touring Manipur and Meghalaya. Then how you will get success.”

While speaking on Rahul Gandhi’s reluctance on fighting the elections from the Amethi seat, the poll strategist said, “If you do not win in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, there is no benefit if you win from Wayanad. Strategically, I can say that letting that space (Amethi) go will only send a wrong message.”

(With inputs from PTI)