The political strategist also predicted that BJP will become the No.1 party in Odisha and will be either first or second party in Telangana.
Prashant Kishor claimed that the saffron party will add significantly to its seats and vote share in south and east India in these elections and win over 300 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won 303 seats and this time around Prime Minister Modi has set a target of 370 seats for the saffron party.
Last week, in a virtual interaction with BJP workers of West Bengal, Prime Minister Modi had said he was confident of winning more seats this time.
The BJP has made significant inroads in West Bengal and has managed to increase the party’s vote share in the state significantly. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was just 3% behind the vote share of ruling Trinamool Congress in Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s vote share saw impressive gain in Lok Sabha elections as it increased from 16.84 per cent in 2014 to 40.25% in 2019. The saffron party had won 18 Lok Sabha seats, which was a huge jump from its 2014 tally of just 2 seats. The Trinamool on the other hand saw its seat tally come down to 22 from 2014 tally of 34.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha battle, the BJP got a big boost in the state when the saffron party increased its tally in the state assembly from 3 seats to 77. The BJP led a very aggressive campaign against Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool government. While the saffron party failed to unseat Mamata, it did manage to replace the Left and the Congress as the main opposition party in the state. The Congress and the Left parties, that contested in alliance, failed to open their accounts. In the assembly elections, BJP’s vote share increased from 10.16% in 2016 to nearly 38% in 2021.
Led by Prime Minister Modi, the BJP is going all out to increase its tally in the state. Even before the Election Commission had announced poll dates, the Prime Minister had addressed four rallies in West Bengal – the first at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the second at Krishnanagar in Nadia district, the third at Barasat in North 24 Parganas, and the fourth one at Siliguri in Darjeeling district.
We will have to wait till June 4 to know if the predictions of Prashant Kishor come true.