Election strategist Prashant Kishor issued a challenge to the BJP on Monday after his acquisition of Trinamool leaders during Amit Shah’s two-day visit to the state over the weekend.
Kishor, tied up last year by Mamata Banerjee for her campaign in Bengal, said the BJP “will struggle to cross double digits” and vowed to leave this “space” if the party did better than he predicted. Speculation about what he meant by “space” has been mounting.
“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 better, I must get out of this space! “Kishor tweeted.
BJP leaders scoffed at the tweet and said it was ambiguous as Kishor did not clarify what he meant by “space.”
Watch the BJP mocks Prashant Kishor for ‘you can’t cross two digits in Bengal’ comment
A senior executive at I-Pac, Kishor’s company, told HT that he was referring to quitting his job as an election strategist.
“What he meant is pretty obvious. He will quit his job if the BJP wins more than 99 seats in Bengal. Those in the BJP, who counteract this, should be asked if they will leave politics if it is proven that he is right, ”said the executive, who is known to be close to Kishor, on condition of anonymity.
The statement was significant because the Union Interior Minister and former BJP National President Amit Shah have declared that their party will overthrow the Trinamool government by winning more than 200 seats.
Shah returned to Delhi on Sunday evening after a two-day trip, the climax of which was the defection of seven TMC lawmakers, including former minister and heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, three MLAs from the left, and Congress, a member of TMC Lok Sabha and a host of the district leaders of the ruling party.
The BJP responded to Kishor, calling him a contract soldier.
“He wrote the tweet not to target the BJP but to appease his employer. He wrote this to counter the doubts that arise about his professional ability, as he is paid very well, “BJP State Vice President Jay Prakash Majumdar told HT.
When asked if he would accept the I-Pac challenge and leave politics if his party fails to win more than 99 seats, Majumdar said: “No political party makes such commitments. We are not taking this seriously. “
This was the first such statement from Kishor, avoiding the media and not commenting on the work done by him and his company, which has been targeted not only by Trinamool dissidents but also by BJP leaders.
Countering Trinamool’s strategy of labeling national BJP leaders such as Shah as “outsiders”, the saffron field targeted the chief minister, saying she needs a Bihar man, Kishor, to win the election.
Kishor had previously helped the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the YSR Congress Party win elections. He had also worked with Congress but was unable to help them win at the polls.
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