In what could be a big trouble for Mamata Banerjee, eminent political strategist Prashant Kishor has predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to be the largest party in West Bengal.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party stunned the ruling TMC by bagging 18 of 42 seats. However, this gain in Lok Sabha did not hold in the assembly elections and the party fared below its expectations. This time, the party is aiming to win 35 seats in Bengal.
"They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal," he said while speaking to news agency ANI.
In January this year, Kishor, who had spearheaded the TMC's campaign in 2021, predicted that the saffron party would be ahead of the ruling party. In an interview, the poll strategist had said that in Tamil Nadu, if the BJP breaks into double-digit vote share, even if it gets no seats, that would be a moment of significance.
"In Odisha, they (BJP) are already number one. In Bengal, again, I don’t want to make a prediction, but unlike most people, I’m predicting that the BJP will do better than the TMC in all likelihood. Be ready for a surprise result coming from Bengal in favour of the BJP," he had said while speaking to The New Indian Express.
In March this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the BJP will win more than 25 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. "There is no need for excitement. We are going to win more than 25 seats. This is a fact, and we will make it happen," he said while speaking at the India Today Conclave 2024.
In 2019, the TMC had bagged 22 seats with 43.3 per cent votes, while BJP won 18 with 40.7 per cent votes. The saffron party had recorded a nearly 23 per cent jump in its vote share, surprising the TMC.