"Don't Mistake Karnataka Win For...": Prashant Kishor Cautions Congress

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor Wednesday cautioned the Congress against "mistaking" the victory in Karnataka assembly polls as a precursor to its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

His statement shared by 'Jan Suraaj', a political campaign launched by the IPAC founder in his home state of Bihar, pointed out that despite the Congress winning the 2013 Karnataka elections it had gone on to lose to the BJP in 2014 Parliamentary elections as also that the grand old party had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after winning in three major states a year before.

"I congratulate the Congress upon its success in Karnataka. But I would also like to caution leaders and workers of the party against mistaking the assembly poll outcome for a hint of what lies in store in Lok Sabha polls," said Prashant Kishor, who stopped his statewide pada-yatra two days ago after a muscle tear in his leg. He has been convalescing at an undisclosed location since then.

Mr Kishor, perceived to be ideologically agnostic and hence suspected by political players of all hues to be an "agent" of the rival, reeled out statistics to buttress his point on Congress' prospects in Lok Sabha polls.

"It may be recalled that in 2012 the Samajwadi Party came to power in Uttar Pradesh with a clear majority. Two years later in the Lok Sabha poll BJP-led NDA swept the state, bagging 73 out of the 80 seats", he pointed out.

He also recounted the 2013 Karnataka assembly poll when the Congress won a majority but lost out to BJP miserably in the Lok Sabha polls.

"The Congress would also do well to remember its success in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the 2018 assembly polls, which was followed by its miserable performance in these states just a few months later in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," Kishor said.

The 45-year-old political analyst has handled poll campaigns of leaders as diverse as Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin and Jaganmohan Reddy.

Mr Kishor hung up his boots after the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls in which his client Mamata Banerjee romped home with her best ever electoral performance.

The launch of 'Jan Suraaj' followed prolonged, but fruitless negotiations with top Congress leaders to whom he had tried to sell the promise of revamping the grand old party.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)