Noted political strategist Prashant Kishor echoed the Bharatiya Janata Party's confidence, stating that the ruling party is poised to significantly increase its seats and vote share in the eastern and southern regions of India, where its influence has been weak or nonexistent, except for Karnataka.
Surprisingly, he also asserted that the BJP is unlikely to win 370 seats, its target set for the upcoming parliamentary polls, during an interview to news agency PTI.
BJP's southern push is clearly visible with none other than the Prime Minister leading the saffron party's poll campaign in the southern states. The southern region assumes greater significance in BJP overall calculus of surpassing the 370-mark on its own and crossing the 400-mark wit the help of its allies.
"I had said this a year back that for the first time I see the BJP in double digits in Tamil Nadu in terms of vote share. They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal," Prashant Kishor told news agency PTI during an interview.
Kishor further predicted that the BJP will emerge as either the first or second-largest party in Telangana, marking a noteworthy development. He also projected that the BJP will secure the top spot in Odisha.
Additionally, Kishor anticipated that the BJP is likely to emerge as the leading party in West Bengal, which may be surprising to many. Furthermore, he also suggested that the BJP's vote share in Tamil Nadu may reach double-digit percentages.
Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala together account for 204 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha but the BJP couldn't cross 50 seats in all these states put together either in 2014 or 2019 when it won 29 and 47 constituencies respectively.
The BJP has made a major and visible push to expand in south and east India over the years as its top leaders like Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have frequented these states. On the other hand, the opposition has made little effort in these states.
Kishor has worked for many major parties, including the BJP, Congress and regional satraps, of different ideological moorings since 2014 but has dedicated himself to his Jan Suraj Yatra in his home state Bihar since October 2022 with a stated goal to usher in a new politics in the state.
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