PM Modi, BJP not invincible but…: Prashant Kishor says Opposition missed ‘three distinct chances’ to stop saffron party

nor the BJP are invincible and the opposition had three distinct and realistic chances to stop the BJP but lost those ‘because of laziness and misplaced strategies’, eminent political strategist opined. 

"If you keep dropping catches, the batter will score a century, especially if he is a good batter," Kishor told news agency PTI.

Pointing at the three different times when the opposition could have stopped the saffron party, he said the BJP had lost several assembly polls except in Assam in 2015 and 2016. But later, it made a stronger comeback. 

The party again had a poor run post-demonetisation after its win in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2017 when it almost lost power in Gujarat and was defeated in several states in 2018, but the Congress "blundered" in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Modi suffered from a dip in his approval ratings following the Covid outbreak in 2020 and the BJP lost badly in West Bengal. 

Kishor said, “The BJP has been winning because parties like the Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, NCP and Trinamool Congress are unable to take it head-on in their own turfs, he said. They have no narrative, face or agenda."

Further validating the BJP's claims that saffron party will add significantly to its seats and vote share in south and east India, Kishor said, "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. ." 

In Tamil he said, BJP's vote share may hit double-digit percentage.

And to get there, Kishor noted, BJP has made a major and visible push to expand in these areas over the years, including top leaders like PM Modi and Amit Shah making frequent visits. On the other hand, the opposition has made little effort in these states.