Quitting this space, says Prashant Kishor
Election strategist Prashant Kishor, who guided the Trinamool Congress to what is likely to be a spectacular victory in the assembly elections in West Bengal, announced on Sunday that he is “quitting this space”.
Election strategist Prashant Kishor, who guided the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to what is likely to be a spectacular victory in the assembly elections in West Bengal, announced on Sunday that he is “quitting this space”, after firing a parting shot at the Election Commission (EC), accusing it of being an “extension of the Bharatiya Janata Party”.
“I am quitting this space,” he told India Today TV channel after trends showed a landslide victory for the TMC, the party whose election strategy he helped craft for the assembly elections.
“I have never seen a more partial Election Commission, it did everything to help BJP .... from allowing use of religion to scheduling poll and bending rules, EC
did everything to help the BJP,” he said calling the poll panel an “extension” of the saffron party.
As of 7pm on Sunday, trends released by the national election body showed the TMC winning 213 of the state’s 294 seats, while the BJP grabbed 78. Significantly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), did not win a single seat in the state it ruled for 34 years, till it was defeated by Banerjee’s party in the 2011 assembly elections.
In an another interview, with news channel NDTV, Kishor stuck to his stand that the BJP was a formidable force in West Bengal.
He said he was confident about the TMC’S victory despite the BJP’S attempt to “build a massive propaganda” that it was winning.
“The result may look like onesided but it was a tough fight. BJP is a formidable force and will be,” he said.
“..., in reality BJP will struggle to cross double digits in #Westbengal,” he had tweeted as early as December last year and his words proved prophetic.
“If BJP does any better, I must quit this space!” he said.
Kishor started working for the TMC soon after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 seats and the ruling party appeared losing its grip on the state.