Political strategist Prashant Kishor, who is in the news for predicting around 300 seats for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, told his critics to ‘drink water’ as they are rattled with his assessment of the poll outcome.
The political strategist made the suggestion to people trolling him after he seemingly lost cool when journalist Karan Thapar questioned the political pundit about making “wrong” result predictions in previous assembly elections.
"Drinking water is good as it keeps both mind and body hydrated. Those who are RATTLED with my assessment of outcome of this election must keep plenty of water handy on June 4th,” Kishor wrote in a post on X (formally Twitter).
“PS: Remember, 02nd May, 2021 and #West Bengal!!” he added.
During a discussion with Thapar over his predictions regarding Congress’s loss in the 2022 Himachal Pradesh elections, Kishor asked for video proof from the veteran journalist. When presented with online news reports, Kishor rejected them and added that he would quit politics if Thapar brought video proof.
“Newspaper can write anything, show me where I have said something... what I say show me the words... after I go from here, what you write in your news publication is none of my business... If I have said Congress will be routed in Himachal in 2022, I am saying on camera on record I will quit what I do. But if you are wrong and trying to put your perception as my statement then please be man enough to say sorry about it,” Kishor said.
“I don’t want to give you the privilege that I said something and he ran out of the interview, I can deal with you and four like you... if you don’t believe what I am saying then why are you interviewing me,” he asked.
Kishor, who managed Narendra Modi's 2014 campaign, stated that there is no widespread anger against the Prime Minister and predicted the BJP would win around 303 seats.
US political scientist predicts BJP win
Meanwhile, prominent American political scientist, Ian Bremmer, predicted that the ruling party will likely score its highest-ever seats tally.
US political scientist Ian Bremmer on May 22predicted 305 seats for the BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. “Prediction for elections for Eurasia group is 305±10 seats,” he said while speaking to the ANI. “Really not much of a change from what we saw 5 years ago.”
Bremmer, founder and President of political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group, said India was an economy that had underperformed for a long time but was now doing a lot better. “This is also a country that was very inward-focused for a long time, but this region is now becoming much more of a global leader.”
Bremmer’s prediction was in line with what political strategist Prashant Kishor predicted for the BJP. In an interview with India Today's News Director Rahul Kanwal on May 21, Kishor said that BJP won’t go down below 270 seats and most likely win 300-plus seats.
The US political pundit said India will likely become the fourth largest economy in the world next year, and the third largest by 2028. From a global political perspective, Bremmer said, the general election is the “only thing that looks stable and consistent”.
“We have an enormous amount of macro-level geopolitical uncertainty and the future of globalisation is not going the way companies want it to. Politics is inserting itself into the global marketplace... wars, US-China relations, and the US election are all a big part of that. All of these are not being managed well and these pressures are more negative. In fact, the only thing that looks stable and consistent, politically, is the India election. Everything else looks problematic,” he told a news channel. From a global political perspective, Bremmer said, the general election is the “only thing that looks stable and consistent.”
The BJP had stormed to power with 282 seats in 2014, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 336 seats in total. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP bettered its tally, winning 303 seats. In total, NDA crossed the 350-mark – the only party to have achieved the feat after the Congress.