Political strategist and founder of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) Prashant Kishor has been making predictions on the outcome of elections in various states, ever since his so-called “Jan Suraj” mission failed to generate any support from people of Bihar.
Having achieved successes in various states and even at the Centre in the last 10 years, Prashant Kishor considers himself Mr Know All and that he could make accurate predictions on the election outcomes.
In the just-concluded assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, too, Prashant Kishor predicted a huge loss for the YSRCP. Though he claimed that he would not predict the numbers, he said YSRCP tally might come down from 151 to even 51 seats.
Well, it is for the people to decide whom to elect and whom not, but it is not necessary that the people’s verdict will be in accordance with Prashant Kishor’s predictions. Sometimes, he may prove right and some other times, he may not.
But Prashant Kishor appears to be supremely confident of his predictions and he doesn’t hesitate to spew venom at others who question his judgement.
This is what has happened in his latest interview with renowned television news anchor and analyst Karan Thapar for the digital news portal and channel “The Wire.”
Questioning Prashant Kishor’s predictions on the return of Narendra Modi to power in 2024 as well, Karan Thapar confronted him with his own tweet that predicted a rout for the Congress in the last elections in Himachal Pradesh and a victory for Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana.
Thapar’s question made Prashant Kishor red-faced and he started arguing with the former, saying he had never predicted a rout for the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.
“Show me a video of my statement. I shall apologise or else, you should apologise in public,” a frustrated Prashant Kishor said.
Karan Thapar showed a clip of Prashant Kishor’s tweet and also the newspaper reports of his statement. For that, the strategist started raising his voice and tried to snub the anchor, insisting that he should show the video clip and not the newspaper clippings.
Well, Prashant Kishor might not have said it on video, but at a press interaction and that was carried by all newspapers. One cannot question the credibility of all the newspapers at a time and his tweet was also there on record.
Yet, he tried to cover up his bluff. It would have been more dignified had he said he had only made a prediction based on his information and that the people are the ultimate judges. That would have ended the controversy!
The netizens reacted strongly to Prashant’s outburst against Karan Thapar.
“Some people actually think that he is not a BJP stooge now, his job is being a hype man from the false credibility he has created around him, nothing else and that facade has started to fade,” commented one person.
Another netizen said: “This man lost all credibility in one single interview, he's a fascist, end of story!”
“I don’t know why we give grace to see him separate from the tyrants. Prashant Kishor is the most evilest (sic) person independent India has seen so far. He is the one who brought this regime into power by social engineering and he is the one who filled hatred among most Indians using WA propaganda and toolkit back in 2013,” commented another!