New Delhi: Election strategist and Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishor acknowledged in an interview that his predictions for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were incorrect. “Yes, I and pollsters like me got it wrong. We are ready to eat the humble pie,” Kishor stated.
Known for his expertise in political strategy, Kishor had predicted that the BJP would replicate its 2019 performance by securing around 300 seats. Reflecting on the inaccuracy, Kishor admitted that getting into the numbers game was a mistake. “I would not get into the number of seats in elections any more,” he said.
“As a strategist, I should not have gotten into numbers. I never used to. It is just in the last two years that I have made the mistake of getting into the numbers – once during the Bengal Assembly election and now in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” Kishor explained.
He emphasized that, aside from the numbers, his overall assessment was accurate. “I had put my assessment in front of you and I have to admit on camera that the assessment that I did was wrong in terms of numbers by a big 20 per cent. We were saying BJP would get somewhere close to 300 and they got 240. But I had earlier said that there was a little anger, but no widespread discontent against Narendra Modi.”
Before the final phases of the elections, Kishor had claimed that Narendra Modi would return to power with his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning around 303 seats, the same figure they secured in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Contrary to his prediction, Modi’s BJP ended up with 240 seats, falling 32 short of the majority mark.
