Opposition squandered opportunities to challenge BJP, says Prashant Kishor

Prashant Kishor

Commenting on the Opposition's poll strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party, eminent political strategist Prashant Kishor stated that the opposition had three distinct and realistic chances of stopping the BJP juggernaut but frittered away the opportunities because of laziness and misplaced strategies.

In an interaction with PTI editors, Kishor reiterated that despite the BJP's apparent dominance, neither the party nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, pointing out at the Opposition's missed chances of stopping the BJP from achieving pole position the upcoming polls.

Speaking of the Lok Sabha polls starting from April 19, he added the BJP will feel the heat only if the opposition, especially the Congress, can ensure that it loses at least around 100 seats in its strongholds of north and west India. And that's not going to happen, the political strategist observed.

Additionally, Kishor observed that despite the gains in vote share and seats in regions where the saffron party has not been strong historically, the party on its own is unlikely to cross the 370-mark, the tally which the party is confident of winning on its own.

Also Read: BJP unlikely to win 370 seats on its own, says Prashant Kishor

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.

Modi suffered from a dip in his approval ratings following the Covid outbreak in 2020 and the BJP lost badly in West Bengal. Instead of mounting any challenge, opposition leaders sat at their homes, allowing the prime minister to make a political comeback, Kishor added.