Many of the Trinamool rebels had expressed resentment at Kishor’s enormous role. (Archive)
New Delhi:
Election strategist Prashant Kishor, the figure of hatred for rebels leaving Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, launched a challenge today at the BJP after his record-breaking takeover of Trinamool defectors during Amit’s weekend visit. Shah to the state.
Prashant Kishor, drafted by Mamata Banerjee for her campaign for the Bengal elections four months away, said the BJP would “struggle to cross double digits” in the 294-member assembly and vowed to leave Twitter if it did better than predicted. .
“Despite all the AMPLIFIED hype by a supporting media section, actually BJP will have a hard time CROSSING DOUBLE DIGITS in #WestBengal PS: Please save this tweet and if BJP does any better, I must leave this space! .
Despite all the AMPLIFIED hype by a supporting media section, in reality BJP will have a hard time CROSSING DOUBLE DIGITS in #West Bengal
PS: Please save this tweet and if BJP does better, I must get out of this space!
– Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) December 21, 2020
BJP Senior Leader Kailash Vijayvargiya replied: “With the ongoing BJP tsunami in Bengal, after forming the government, we will see the country lose an electoral strategist.”
Prashant Kishor’s challenge follows Trinamool’s largest single-day exodus since its inception in 1998. Heavyweights Suvendu Adhikari and 34 other leaders, including five MLAs and one MP, crossed over to the BJP on Saturday, at the rally. from Home Secretary Amit Shah in Midnapore. . “Looking at this tsunami, at this rate, I did, be careful. He’ll be alone when the polls are here, “Shah said, with the Trinamool rebels nodding on stage.
Many of these leaders had expressed resentment at Kishor’s enormous role in Trinamool’s campaign decisions, including the choice of candidates.
“The very people behind whose backs the party was created are now being marginalized, humiliated and marginalized. Instead, people have now hired outside assistance, people without knowledge of the basic realities and without knowledge of the sacrifice that working really requires. for a shared goal as ambitious as creating the West Bengal of our dreams, “wrote Suvendu Adhikari in an open letter shortly before his change at the Amit Shah rally.
Without naming names, Adhikari said the Trinamool was now filled with “individuals who care for no one but themselves, individuals who will receive monetary compensation for their services and will disappear as soon as the elections are over.”
Another rebel MLA, Shilbhadra Dutta, had openly attacked the growing influence of IPAC, Mr. Kishor’s team, in the management of Trinamool, and had refused to meet with IPAC employees who visited him at his home.
On Friday, amid back-to-back resignations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with her closest advisers, including Kishor and his nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, another cause of disenchantment among the rebels, and took a hard line against the defectors. .
Kishor, whose past credits include BJP’s 2014 campaign and Nitish Kumar’s 2015 victory in Bihar, faces his toughest challenge yet in Bengal.
The BJP had only won six of Bengal’s 294 seats in the 2016 elections, in which Mamata Banerjee won a second consecutive term.
This time, the BJP is very encouraged by its national election tally of 18 of Bengal’s 42 seats, and believes that a weakened Trinamool, which has lost many of its voters, will be easier to beat.
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