Election strategist and Jan Suraaj Party co-ordinator Prashant Kishor, who appeared in India TV's Aap Ki Adalat show on Saturday, expressed his views on a range of political issues, including the political atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh post-Lok Sabha elections. He also shared his opinion about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Replying to questions from India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma in his iconic TV show 'Aap Ki Adalat' - whether the electoral losses in UP were due to reported differences between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Home Minister Amit Shah, Kishor rejected the narration, saying, "I do not see it as personal rivalry between the two.
"But if you see it from a wider perspective, I can cite the example of 2009 Lok Sabha elections. At that time, Narendra Modi was chief minister of Gujarat and LK Advani was the party's national leader. In 2009, the BJP did not do well in Gujarat, but I am not saying Modi's supporters sabotaged Advani's campaign. The message that went through was that if Advani won, then our leader Modi would take more time to become prime minister. Maybe this was what happened in Uttar Pradesh this time."
"Some people felt that if Modi and Shah won a huge majority, Yogi might lose his chair. What Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said about Yogi at that time clicked. Even in Bihar, during my padyatra (march), people asked me whether Yogi would be removed if BJP won 400 seats. It is not that Yogi may have told his supporters to defeat BJP candidates. This is not my topic and I normally do not speak on such matters. But the message surely went out among Yogi's supporters," he further elaborated.
Did arrest of two CMs - Kejriwal and Soren impact the Lok Sabha elections?
Asked whether the arrest of two chief ministers - Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren impacted the elections, the election strategist replied in the negative, saying "I don't think so. Had it been so, the BJP would have been swept off in Jharkhand. Instead, the BJP faced losses in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. If Hemant Soren's arrest could have caused tremors, then the biggest losses to BJP would have been in Bihar and Jharkhand."
"Lalu factor helped Nitish": Kishor
Decoding Lok Sabha elections results in Bihar, Kishor said, "Lalu (RJD chief and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav) phenomenon is the biggest factor in Bihar for the last 25-30 years. A large section of voters in Bihar, who have seen the jungle raj for 15 years during RJD rule, will never vote for Lalu. Nitish Kumar won 12 Lok Sabha seats only because of this Lalu factor."
Prashant Kishor on future of NDA government
Replying to a question related to the stability of the NDA government, he said, "Results in 9 state assembly elections, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam, will decide the stability of this government. These results will also decide the direction this government will take. If BJP loses in five or six out of these nine states, definitely the question of stability will become an issue."
"People have sent a clear message to Narendra Modi asking him to run the government. They have also conveyed to him that - You Are Not God...run the government, but not as a dictator, run the government like a democratic leader. People have given the message to Modi that he should run the government carefully," he said describing the 2024 Lok Sabha results as "a good one".
MORE AAP KI ADALAT VIDEOS
Rahul Gandhi has established himself as the leader of Congress: Kishor
While replying to a question on the prospects of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi emerging as a forceful alternative to Modi, Prashant Kishor said, "As a leader, Rahul Gandhi has miles to go before he reaches a stage where we can say that he has indeed arrived. But yes, Congress as a party has done better than most people expected, including me, and to that extent, we must give credit to Rahul Gandhi. In this election, Rahul has established himself as the leader of Congress, and no others can claim that stature in the party for the next five to ten years. But to establish himself as a leader of the country, he has a long way to go. Winning 99 seats is one thing, and winning 250 to 260 seats is another."
Kishor shares his plan for his Jan Suraaj Party
Kishor, who is set to launch his Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar on October 2 ahead of state assembly elections, shared his plan for Jan Suraaj Party.
"The biggest beneficiaries of this year's Lok Sabha election are parties like us who are offering an alternative to the voters. If the BJP had won 350 to 400 seats, they would not have allowed us to work in Bihar. The opposition will never become weak in a country like India, where more than 60 crore people earn less than Rs 100 per day. No amount of ads, or PR through Facebook, YouTube can impress them. They are not your bonded labourers."
About his Jan Suraaj Party to be launched next month, Prashant Kishor said, he would be collecting Rs 100 each from nearly 2 crore people in Bihar to fund his party's expenses for the assembly elections next year. "My party's thrust will be on education and development", he said.
