New Delhi: Since the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been continuously deepening its roots in the country. Electoral strategist Prashant Kishor says the BJP is going to dominate Indian politics for the next several decades and it is Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fault to wait for the end of the Modi era. Prashant Kishor was recently on a tour of Goa, where he clearly stated that he believes that he will have to fight the BJP for the next several decades. Prashant Kishor is currently working for Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
After TMC won the Bengal assembly elections, Kishor had announced that he was not working with Mamata Banerjee. Although there were also reports that Prashant Kishor may join the Congress, but after several rounds of talks, now Prashant Kishor is once again working with TMC. Before the upcoming assembly elections, he has also reached Goa in search of TMC land.
Along with predicting BJP’s dominance for decades, Prashant Kishor also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi, saying he is probably under some illusion that the BJP is going to stay in power only till the Modi wave.
Prashant Kishor said during an event organized in Goa museum, “BJP wins or loses, but it will remain at the center of Indian politics.” Like 40 years of Congress, BJP is not going anywhere. Once you get 30 percent votes in India, you don’t go anywhere so fast. So never fall into this maze that people are getting angry and they will overthrow Modi. People may remove Modi, but BJP is still not going anywhere. You will have to face the BJP for the next several decades.
Prashant Kishor did not stop here, he continued, “This is the problem with Rahul Gandhi. Perhaps, they feel that it is only a matter of time until people oust Modi from power. This is not going to happen.” Prashant Kishor said, “Unless you understand Modi’s strength and accept his strength, you will not be able to face him. The problem is that people are not giving much time to understand the forces of Modi, they are not understanding how Modi is becoming so popular. If you know this, then only you will be able to face them.”
On how the Congress party sees the future of BJP and Narendra Modi, Kishor said, “You go to any Congress leader, they will tell you that it is a matter of time, people are getting fed up, anti-incumbency wave will come. And people will remove Modi. I doubt it is not going to happen.” Prashant Kishor also gave an example of how the Modi government hiked the prices of petrol and diesel so much and there was no major public outcry against him.
Prashant Kishor also pointed to the division of voters in the country. “If you look at the level of voters, it is a battle between one-third and two-thirds. Only one third of the people are voting for BJP or want to support BJP. The problem is that two thirds is divided between 10, 12 or 15 political parties and this is the main reason for the downfall of the Congress. 65 per cent of the voters are divided, so the graph of the Congress is continuously going down.
(with agency input)