PRASHANT KISHOR ADMITS BJP SURGING IN BENGAL, TMC ON THE BACK FOOT
sive cadre on the ground and who were working for the party. “These cadres which the BJP has in Bengal could be imported from the Left, but then they are now working as dedicated soldiers of the BJP. The BJP presently has cadres in every district and areas in Bengal and in huge numbers,” Kishor said.
Kishor also admitted during the conversation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was like a cult figure for many across India including in Bengal. Kishor added that for about 25% of the population, Modi was like “God”. He said that according to the surveys they were conducting, Modi was “equally popular” as Mamata Banerjee in Bengal.
Kishor and his I-PAC have conducted over four surveys through big survey groups in Bengal in the last few months and according to sources in the I-PAC, all these surveys have shown that people want BJP to come to power. The surveys also showed that there is major anti-incumbency and anger against the Mamata Banerjee government.
This was also admitted by Prashant Kishor in the conversation that he had with the “journalists” on Clubhouse.
Kishor’s admission is in consonance with a report that The Sunday Guardian did in September last year (TMC losing ground rapidly, finds survey) on the basis of one such survey done by Kishor’s political strategist firm, Indian-political Action Committee (I-PAC), in which it had emerged that TMC was unlikely to come back to power.
Sources in I-PAC say that all the “journalists” who attended the conversation are members of a close Whatsapp group administered by Kishor himself.
The Sunday Guardian reached out to Kishor and also to the media team of I-PAC for a reaction to the developments and seeking a response on whether I-PAC would be releasing the full conversation that happened on Clubhouse. However, no response was received either from Kishor or his media team until the time of this report going to press.
Senior TMC leader and MP from Dumdum, Saugata Roy, while responding to the developments, told The Sunday Guardian that the BJP was using its “dirty tricks department” to create a false perception. “This is the handiwork of Amit Malviya’s dirty tricks department. We have already said that the clips released are a part of the conversation and not the whole of it. Prashant Kishor in his entire conversation has 12 times said that TMC is winning, and that BJP will not cross more than 100 seats. This is BJP’S trick to malign the TMC, and holds no importance for us.”
Jumping at what the BJP leaders called a “God-sent” opportunity, BJP’S Bengal co-in-charge and IT cell head Amit Malviya said that Mamata Banerjee’s own election strategist had conceded that even in TMC’S internal surveys, BJP was winning.
“TMC’S election was just thrown away. On a day Bengal is voting for the fourth phase on as many as 44 seats, the TMC cadres and leaders woke up to find out that Mamata Banerjee’s election strategist has conceded the elections,” Amit Malviya said.
Malviya also attacked the group of select “journalists” who attended the chat. He said that all those journalists who were on Clubhouse with Kishor for the conversation were “all Lutyens’ journalists, most of whom are now jobless and Youtubing or work for discredited rags”.
In response, Kishor put out a tweet saying, “I am glad the BJP is taking my chat more seriously than their own leaders. They should show courage and share the full chat instead of getting excited with selective use of parts of it. I have said this before and I am repeating again that BJP will not cross 100 in West Bengal.”