With the BJP’s high-voltage political campaign for West Bengal underway, poll strategist Prashant Kishore on Monday predicted the party’s defeat in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls and vowed to quit Twitter if his predictions fail. He said the BJP will struggle to cross double digits in the state polls. Double digits can mean anything from 10 to 99, so there were some people who were happy, some saw the trick forecast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishor’s predictions came two days after Home Minister Amit Shah\u2019s claim to set a target of 200 of the 294 seats for the party’s West Bengal wing ahead of polls in 2021. Shah had said that with the blessings of Birsa Munda, BJP will come to power with at least 200 seats. “Those who want to laugh at my prediction, let them laugh if the party works according to the plan, BJP will win more than 200 seats in the state,” he reiterated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishor\u2019s tweet comes after several leaders, including Trinamool Congress heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari joined BJP during Home Minister Amit Shah\u2019s visit on Saturday. Besides Adhikari, six MLAs of the Trinamool Congress, one each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India and the Congress also joined the BJP. Two-time Trinamool MP from Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha constituency Sunil Mondal also defected to the BJP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following Kishor\u2019s announcement, BJP National General Secretary and West Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted that after the BJP\u2019s tsunami in Bengal, this country will have to lose an election strategist after forming the government. Earlier, BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy had also claimed Trinamool will not get even 100 seats of the 294 in the Assembly polls 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishor, who heads the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), had led campaigns for several parties to victory in several states. His first major campaign was for then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2011. In 2014, he campaigned for the BJP that led to an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections. Later, he joined Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and was appointed vice-president of the party. He was expelled from the JD(U) for \u201cindiscipline\u201d in January this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n