Political strategist Prashant Kishor predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will at least bag as many seats as it did last time (303 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections) or perform even better in the general elections 2024, in his interview with NDTV.
While he noted that the saffron party will certainly benefit with its strongholds in northern and western states, he expects the party to do slightly better in south and east India.
He also pointed out that BJP's failure to achieve its 370-mark will hurt the stock market.
"When the expectation from a company is very high and they do not meet that despite performing well, the stock market punishes them. From this point of view, if the BJP scores less than 370 seats, this may become a talking point. The markets too may reflect this," he told the publication.
The BJP has set for itself a goal of 370 seats while it remains confident that NDA will cross the 400-seat-mark.
Meanwhile, Kishor called that party's '370-seat target' a smart move, adding that this strategy has helped the BJP in changing the election discourse.
"In the last three-four months, the discussion has centred around '370' and '400 paar'. Consider it a BJP strategy or Opposition's weakness, but the BJP has entirely shifted the goalpost from 272 to 370. This has benefitted the BJP. Now, no one is saying Modi ji will lose, they are saying they may not get 370 seats."
On the other hand, Kishor suggested that Rahul Gandhi should consider stepping back if the Congress does not get the desired results in the Lok Sabha polls.
In an interaction with PTI editors, he said Gandhi, for all practical purposes, is running his party and has been unable to either step aside or let somebody else steer the Congress despite his inability to deliver in the last 10 years.
"This according to me is also anti-democratic," said Kishor, who had prepared a revival plan for the opposition party but walked out due to the disagreements between him and its leadership over the execution of his strategy.
(With PTI inputs)
Published 22 May 2024, 08:02 IST