Ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, political strategist Prashant Kishor took to Twitter predicting a crushing defeat for the BJP. The BJP, he opined, would even struggle to get seats beyond the double digits in the Assembly.
And if proven wrong, Kishor said, he would "quit this space".
"For all the hype AMPLIFIED by a section of supportive media, in reality BJP will struggle to CROSS DOUBLE DIGITS in West Bengal," he tweeted on Monday morning.
The elections to 294 seats of Bengal Assembly is scheduled to be held in 2021.
The former JD(U) politician who helms the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) has an impressive track record when it comes to guiding political parties to victory. Kishor's first major campaign had been for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2011. In 2014, the Citizens for Accountable Governance - a poll campaign group conceptualised by him - led Modi and the BJP to an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections.
Over the years, Kishor has worked with several political parties, including the Congress in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi and the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. He is currently working with the Trinamool Congress and the DMK for 2021 polls in Bengal and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
Over the last few weeks, there has been an upheaval in Bengal as many senior TMC leaders switched their allegiance, joining the BJP during Home Minister Amit Shah's visit. Political heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, as well as nine MLAs of different parties and a TMC MP joined the Opposition party last week.
Speaking at a rally on Saturday, Shah had claimed that there will be more desertions and that the West Bengal chief minister would be left alone in her party by the time voting commenced. Countering Mamata, Shah said on Sunday that the BJP's chief ministerial candidate will not be an 'outsider'.
