National News Politics

“Would No Longer Predict Seat Numbers”: Poll Strategist Prashant Kishor

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor spoke out for the first time since the BJP did not reach the majority mark in the Lok Sabha elections. He admitted that his pre-election predictions were incorrect and would no longer focus on predicting seat numbers.

 

Kishor, who worked on campaigns for the BJP in 2014, YSRCP in 2019, and Trinamool Congress in 2021, acknowledged his wrong predictions for Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. These states contributed to reducing the BJP’s seat count from its 2019 total.

 

Prashant Kishor said in an interview with India Today TV following the Lok Sabha election results. “Yes, I and other pollsters like me got it wrong. We are willing to admit our mistakes,”

 

Prashant Kishor had predicted that the BJP would win around 300 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the BJP ultimately won 240 out of 543 seats, falling short of the majority by 32 seats.

 

Upon being asked whether he would continue predicting election results in future, the pollster said, “No, I would not get into the number of seats in elections any more”.

 

Prashant Kishor stated, “I presented my assessment honestly, and I have to admit on camera that my prediction was off by a significant 20%. We anticipated the BJP would reach nearly 300 seats, but they secured 240. I had earlier noted there was some discontent but not widespread dissatisfaction against Narendra Modi,”.

 

On the other hand, Indian activist, psephologist, and politician Yogendra Yadav accurately predicted the number of seats in the recent election results. In contrast, political strategist Prashant Kishor’s forecasts were far from matching the BJP’s actual results, though they were more accurate for the Congress party.

 

Since the start of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been promoting the slogan ‘Abki Baar 400 Paar’. However, in his prediction videos, Yadav dismissed these claims as unrealistic.

 

He stated, “While the BJP’s target of 400 seats was highly optimistic, it will be challenging for them to secure 300 seats even. (400 paar wali baat to bilkul hawa me thi, 300 paar karna BJP ke liye bahut mushkil hoga)”. Yadav also predicted that the BJP would struggle to reach 260 seats, and achieving 300 seats would be nearly impossible for them.

 

In contrast, political strategist Prashant Kishor had earlier anticipated a clear victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha elections. Kishor confidently asserted in his interactions with the media that the ruling party would secure a majority and form the next government independently, without coalition partners. However, the final vote counts presented a different outcome.

 

Kishor had expected the BJP to match or surpass their 2019 tally of 303 seats. He acknowledged that while achieving 370 seats, or the NDA’s goal of over 400 seats, might be ambitious. Kishor also predicted that Congress would garner fewer than 100 seats, a forecast that appears accurate given the party’s current tally of 99 seats.

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