‘Ab ki baar 400 par’ slogan proved detrimental to BJP : Prashant Kishor

Patna (Bihar) – Many people predicted in the exit polls that the BJP-led NDA would get more than 400 seats, but the NDA got only 292 seats. Prashant Kishor was one of the political strategists making such predictions. Now, he has apologised for his wrong predictions while giving his opinion on the results of the recent Parliamentary elections. He has stated that the BJP’s slogan ‘ab ki baar 400 par’ proved detrimental.

Party workers and voters both were unhappy

In an interview with ‘India Today’, Prashant said that the weakest side of the BJP was extreme dependence on Modi. The party workers were sure of winning more than 400 seats. They truly thought that the BJP was capable of winning so many seats. The voters, however, decided to teach a lesson to their siting MPs. Giving example of his own constituency, Prashant cited example of R K Singh, former MP of Arrah Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. He said that everyone in his constituency said that R K Singh had done good work. He was good as a minister too. The party workers were, however, disgruntled because he never bothered about the party workers. BJP supporters hoped to win more than 400 seats based on above slogan. BJP’s votes have gone down by 2% compared to 2014. During the counting at Varanasi, initially, Modi was lagging. Modi’s opponent secured 20.9% votes last time, while he secured 41% votes now. The voters wanted to hold Modi back.

Courtesy: India Today

Wrong predictions do not mean political understanding is over

Prashant Kishor had predicted that in the 2024 elections, BJP would win 303 or more seats and Congress would get less than 100 seats. In response, Prashant said, “I accept that I was wrong, but it can happen. Akhilesh Yadav and Amit Shah also predicted a few things. They too were wrong. It, however, doesn’t mean that the political understanding of the person making such predictions is over. Rahul Gandhi thought his party would form a Government in Madhya Pradesh but the BJP won there. It didn’t mean Rahul Gandhi’s political understanding was over. Predictions can go wrong.”

‘Ab ki baar 400 par’ slogan symbolised arrogance

Prashant Kishor said that the BJP suffered the most due to its slogan of more than 400 seats. People felt it arrogant. The opposition parties also canvassed against the BJP that it would amend the Constitution if it won more than 400 seats. The slogan was good, but it was not complete. In 2014, BJP’s slogan was against inflation but this time, there was no clarity how 400+ seats would benefit the citizens. The slogan did not go down well with the voters.