BJP will not cross 100 seats in West Bengal: Prashant Kishor after row over leaked clubhouse chat

New Delhi: Reacting to his leaked ‘Club House room’ audio chat, Trinamool Congress` (TMC) poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday reiterated that BJP will not cross 100 seats in the West Bengal Assembly election 2021.

He also added that the BJP should show courage by sharing the full chat instead of the selective part. "I am glad BJP is taking my chat more seriously than the words of their own leaders! They should show courage and share the full chat instead of getting excited with the selective use of parts of it. I have said this before and repeating again - BJP will not CROSS 100 in West Bengal," tweeted Kishor. 

I am glad BJP is taking my chat more seriously than words of their own leaders!

They should show courage & share the full chat instead of getting excited with selective use of parts of it.

I have said this before & repeating again - BJP will not to CROSS 100 in WB. Period.

— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) April 10, 2021

An audio chat of ‘Club House room’ involving Prashant Kishor and a few journalists was leaked on social media. 

"There is no anti-incumbency against PM Modi. The PM has become a cult in the country. PM Modi is popular in Bengal. The Hindi speaking people is the core support base of BJP in Bengal. PM Modi is very popular here. PM Modi and Mamata are equally popular in Bengal," Kishore reportedly said in that conversation. 

"When we made a survey and asked people whose government will be formed in Bengal. The outcomes predominantly come in favour of the BJP. The majority says BJP`s government will be formed. There are sufficient workers of BJP on the ground. If we leave one or two districts, everywhere there are strong cadets of BJP," added Kishor. 

"Suvendu Adhikari is not a factor. Hindus, schedule caste, Dalit and Hindi speaking population are the key factors. Around 50-55 per cent of Hindus are voting for BJP. There are around one crore Hindi speaking population in West Bengal.’’

“Matuas will predominantly vote for the BJP. When we made a survey and asked people whose government will be formed in Bengal. The outcomes predominantly come in favour of the BJP. In-ground there are workers of BJP," explained Kishor. He further said the parties like Congress, Left and TMC has been practising appeasement politics in West Bengal. 

"For the last 20 years, there has been a blatant effort to appease the minority. The entire political ecosystem in Bengal be it Left, Congress or Didi have been to grab the Muslim votes. There is some element that BJP is exploiting. And that element is coming from the blatant misuse of minority politics," he stated. 

The election strategist was roped in by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021. 

The election strategist was roped in by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 and had indicated in the past that he will quit the space if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) performs any better in the state than his prediction.

As a political strategist, Kishor worked with many parties to win the elections. He helped Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar to win the Assembly polls in 2015. Following this, Kumar appointed Kishor as the vice president of JD-U.

However, Kishor was expelled from JD-U in January 2020 over his disagreement with the party on the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Recently he has been appointed as the Principal Advisor by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in the state.

Last year, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin had announced his party`s collaboration with Prashant Kishor`s poll strategy group Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) for the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. 

Voting for 44 constituencies in West Bengal`s fourth phase Assembly elections began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security. This phase of the elections will witness an intense battle between 373 candidates in 44 constituencies of the state across five districts - Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.

Among the 44 constituencies, nine are in Howrah, 10 in Hooghly, 11 in South 24 Parganas, five in Alipurduar and nine in Cooch Behar.

A total of 1,15,81,022 voters will participate in this phase, out of which 2,63,016 are first-time voters. The fifth phase of the Assembly elections will commence on April 17. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. 

(With Agency Inputs)