India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor cautioned the Congress party, advising against interpreting their victory in the Karnataka assembly polls as a guarantee of success in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Kishor, known for his role in election campaigns and founder of the IPAC (Indian Political Action Committee), shared his statement through the ‘Jan Suraaj’ campaign in his home state of Bihar.
Kishor emphasized that despite the Congress’ win in the 2013 Karnataka elections, they subsequently faced defeat against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. He also pointed out that the Congress, after winning in three major states, suffered losses in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His intention was to remind party leaders and workers not to misinterpret the assembly poll outcome as an indication of their prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
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While congratulating the Congress on their success in Karnataka, Kishor, who recently suspended his statewide pada-yatra due to a muscle tear, provided statistical evidence to support his perspective on the party’s chances in the Lok Sabha elections. He cited the example of the Samajwadi Party’s clear majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, which was followed by the BJP-led NDA sweeping the state in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections, securing 73 out of 80 seats.
Kishor also referred to the 2013 Karnataka assembly polls, where the Congress achieved a majority but performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP. Furthermore, he highlighted the Congress’ success in the 2018 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, which was followed by their disappointing performance in these states during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Prashant Kishor, a 45-year-old political analyst, has managed election campaigns for a diverse range of leaders including Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin, and Jaganmohan Reddy. After the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, where his client Mamata Banerjee achieved her best-ever electoral performance, Kishor announced his retirement from active political consulting.
The launch of the ‘Jan Suraaj’ campaign came after prolonged but unsuccessful negotiations with top Congress leaders, as Kishor had attempted to propose a revamp of the grand old party.
