As the Trinamool Congress appears poised to garner a massive win in the West Bengal Assembly election, all eyes are on poll strategist Prashant Kishor. The IPAC founder who had worked with Mamata Banerjee and her party in the run-up to the elections had repeatedly predicted the BJP's loss, facing tremendous backlash from the party and its supporters over the last few months.
One might recall a tweet at the end of last year that created quite the flurry in the eastern state. The BJP, he had said, would struggle to cross double digits. And if data from the election commission two-thirds of the way through counting day is any indication, this might very well prove true. As of 3:35 pm, the TMC is leading on 203 seats, while the BJP is a distant second holding the lead in only 81 seats.
"For all the hype AMPLIFIED by a section of supportive media, in reality BJP will struggle to CROSS DOUBLE DIGITS in West Bengal PS: Please save this tweet and if BJP does any better I must quit this space!" he tweeted on December 21, 2020. This was followed up with infrequent reminders over the next few months, reiterating his earlier prediction.
"BJP clearly remaining in double digits in WB as Prashant Kishore had confidently predicted, despite Shah/Modi's boast of getting over 200 seats!" reminded lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan.
"So Prashant Kishor is now trending and he here's to stay," tweeted poet Meena Kandasamy sharing a screenshot of his original tweet.
But even as netizens hail him as the hero of the day, Prashant Kishor says that he is contemplating retirement. In conversation with NDTV, the poll strategist and former politician said that he had "had enough" and now wished to do something else in life. This however does not mean that his company will cease to work. If Kishor's remarks are any indication, he intends for the IPAC team to function without him in the future.
