Exuding confidence that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress will win the upcoming assembly elections in the state, poll strategist Prashant Kishor Saturday said the people of Bengal are "ready with their message and determined to show the right card". In a tweet, day after the Election Commission announced the poll dates for West Bengal along with Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry starting March 27, Kishor said, "One of the key battles for democracy in India will be fought in West Bengal". Insisting that "Bengal only wants its own daughter," he added, "PS: On 2nd May, hold me to my last tweet". One of the key battles FOR DEMOCRACY in India will be fought in West Bengal, and the people of Bengal are ready with their MESSAGE and determined to show the RIGHT CARD - #BanglaNijerMeyekeiChay (Bengal Only Wants its Own Daughter) PS: On 2nd May, hold me to my last tweet. pic.twitter.com/vruk6jVP0X — Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) February 27, 2021 Prashant Kishor, who managed Narendra Modi's successful campaign for prime ministership in 2014, has been tasked by the TMC to work out strategies by the party in view of the 2021 assembly election. In December last year, Kishor had claimed that the BJP will not cross double digits in the West Bengal assembly polls. He had further asserted that he will quit Twitter if the saffron party does any better than what he has predicted, setting off a war of words with BJP leaders on the microblogging platform. "For all the hype amplified by a section of supportive media, in reality BJP will struggle to cross double digits in West Bengal," the election strategist had tweeted. "Please save this tweet and if BJP does any better I must quit this space!" Kishor added. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is fighting a battle of attrition. Several TMC MLAs, including Suvendu Adhikari and party MP Sunil Mondal, have defected to the BJP. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted that his party will win over 200 seats in the upcoming polls. This time, West Bengal will poll in eight phases starting March 27. The last phase of polling for a total of 294 Assembly constituencies has been scheduled for April 29. Counting of votes in Bengal has been scheduled on May 2 along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. The stakes are high in Bengal as the Trinamool Congress, which has swept the last two elections, will fight the BJP which had just won 0 and 3 seats respectively in the previous two elections. In a major political change, the BJP had won 18 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, with a vote share of 40.64 per cent, giving the Mamata government a major setback ahead of the assembly polls.
