Bengaluru: Prashant Kishor the top election analyst of the country has cautioned the Congress party not to get carried away with the results that the party has returned in the 2023 elections for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
The Karnataka Assembly Elections of 2023 witnessed a significant underperformance by the BJP, facing the brunt of the anti-incumbency wave, as they secured a mere 65 seats. In contrast, the Congress party achieved a resounding victory with 135 seats, enabling them to form the government with a comfortable majority. However, amidst the celebration of their triumph, renowned political strategist and election strategist Prashant Kishor cautioned the Congress party against misinterpreting the outcome of the Karnataka Assembly elections as a definitive indicator for the Lok Sabha elections.
“While I extend my congratulations to the Congress party for their success in Karnataka, I urge the party’s leaders and workers not to misconstrue the result of the Assembly election as a blueprint for the Lok Sabha election,” he said.
Prashant Kishor emphasised the need for the Congress party to exercise caution and not fall prey to the allure of victory in the Karnataka Assembly Elections, citing past examples to support his warning. “Despite winning the Karnataka assembly elections in 2013, the Congress party secured fewer seats nationwide in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, in 2019, although the Congress triumphed over the BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, they suffered defeat in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections held a few months later,” Prashant Kishor declared.
He further highlighted the significance of historical precedents, stating, “In 2012, the Samajwadi Party claimed a clear majority in Uttar Pradesh, only to witness the BJP-led NCD winning 73 out of 80 seats in the state two years later.”
In his assessment of the country’s political landscape, Prashant Kishor acknowledged the Congress party’s victory in Karnataka but cautioned against using it as a definitive Barometer for the Lok Sabha elections. He urged Congress leaders and workers not to become complacent in their triumph.
Prashant Kishor gained prominence for his role as a pivotal campaign strategist for the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections. Following that, he served as the BJP’s chief election strategist during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Subsequently, demand for Prashant Kishor’s strategic expertise soared. After parting ways with the BJP war room, he formulated election strategies for prominent figures such as Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, M. K. Stalin in Tamil Nadu, Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal.