Prashant Kishor Express Adda Highlights: ‘Find no logic in Rahul Gandhi doing Yatra from Manipur 2 months ahead of Lok Sabha polls’

Prashant Kishor, speaking on Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra said: “I find no logic in Rahul Gandhi doing a Yatra from Manipur months ahead of Lok Sabha polls. At a time when he should be at the centre of where politics happen, he is busy doing a Yatra in the Northeast. Visiting the areas is fine but deserting the headquarters is definitely not a wise move. I don’t know who is advising him on these issues.”

Prashant Kishor, while speaking about revolutions, said: “No revolution, of course barring the French revolution, has done anything good for the people of a country. Mahatma Gandhi also didn’t lead a revolution in the first 30-40 years. I am also not trying to do a revolution in Bihar. I am trying to educate and spread knowledge among people in Bihar regarding their current situation.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked regarding the biggest risk for PM Modi, said: “It is overdependence on PM Modi that is their biggest problem now.” When asked as to who would come after him, he added: “That I wouldn’t know but whoever it is, will be more hardliner than he is.”

Prashant Kishor, while talking about the Congress party, said: “I had told them that they would need to re-incarnate themselves. Also, politics is like the stock market. One cannot keep jumping from one goal to another. Today, it is rafale, tomorrow, Hindutva… this won’t work. They need to stick to one belief and strive towards dispensing that message.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked as to why doesn’t he come into mainstream politics, said: “We are striving. It took 30 years for the Congress to be formed. It also took a lot of time for the Jan Sangh to become what it is. It takes time for anyone to come to a national scale needs at least 15-20 years.”

Prashant Kishor, when talking about the support base of PM Modi, said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support base has undergone a massive change. He has gained a lot of support among the older lot while losing out of the younger people.”

Prashant Kishor, when talking about the Aadhaar scheme, said: “Aadhaar was a scheme rolled out by the Congress government but they never gave it the mass reach that the BJP was able to. Now, shouting for credit over it makes little sense as the PM Modi-led government was the one who saw an opportunity in the scheme as rolled it out on a mass scale.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about whether data is the new currency, said: “I disagree with the belief that BJP is winning just because they have data. It is not giving them any advantage. Data is something that people need to know how to use it. The messenger is important, how the message is delivered is irrelevant. For example, Rahul Gandhi has more reach on social media than many in the BJP but he is not reaching the people as much because he is not saying the right things.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about what gives him hope about Indian politics, said: “The have-nots are what give me hope. They don’t mind saying whatever they want to and are not intimidated by the current scenario in the country, unlike industrialists.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about whether concerns and issues are different for men and women when it comes to voting, said: “Women are definitely a great voter base to have. They are more religious for sure. For example, on the mandal issue, one would see men protesting whereas during a Ram Mandir yatra, you’ll see more women involved.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about the future of JD(U), said: “The BJP has already swallowed the JDU. Even Nitish Kumar know about it. He has been the Chief Minister for the last 18 years and he is just milking whatever is left.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about why Nitish Kumar continues to be CM, said: “It all boils down to numbers. The BJP hasn’t brought him in because it will benefit them. They did so because they wanted to end the idea of the INDIA Opposition bloc, of which, Nitish was a major proponent. They have lost the battle to win the war.”

Prashant Kishor, while speaking about Nitish Kumar’s flip flops said: “Nitish Kumar is referred to as ‘Paltu Ram’ by voters in Bihar and as such, he no longer holds the sway he used to over people in the state. If someone switches sides so many times, people will definitely understand and move away from them.”

Prashant Kishor, while speaking about the future of the country, said: “It is wrong to say that India, like a country in Africa maybe, will become a dictatorship. No matter who comes to power, no one can steamroll 1.3 billion people in the country. We have seen people like Narendra Modi before as well but democracy in India has continued to thrive.”

Prashant Kishor, when asked about UP CM Yogi Adityanath, said: “If not for PM Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath would not have been able to pull off a victory in Uttar Pradesh. He is a cult in the making but he hasn’t reached that state yet.”

Prashant Kishor, while talking about the recent actions on Opposition leaders, said: “India has never seen such centralisation of power. When one party gets so many votes to come to power, it becomes difficult for the Opposition parties. However, this is not the first time that something like this has happened. In time of Indira Gandhi, the notion was — India is Indira and Indira is India.”

Prashant Kishor, while talking about how people vote during elections, said: “Optics such as India becoming the third largest economy often play a huge role in the minds of voters. Maybe they won’t vote because of it but this maybe used as a reason to push for a vote towards a certain party.

Prashant Kishor, while talking about the INDIA alliance, said: “If the Opposition parties were serious enough, they should have come together much earlier and did a lot more than they did since June 2023. The leaders used to leave their meetings to catch flights, which clearly shows how important they treated the gatherings to be.”

Prashant Kishor, while talking about the INDIA alliance, said: “All the INDIA alliance has done from June 2023, when they first met, to now is conduct closed-door meetings. They have never reached out to the people. If Rahul Gandhi could travel to Europe, why couldn’t the alliance reach out to the voters? The Opposition bloc is clearly not serious enough.”

Prashant Kishor, while explaining what the Opposition should be doing, said: “The Opposition needs to first galvanise those who are not completely convinced with BJP’s ideologies. Only then can they get into the modalities of fighting them on issues like Hindutva or mandal politics. If there’s 60 per cent not confirming to BJP’s mindset, the Opposition parties have to first figure out how to get 60 per cent of the aforementioned 60 per cent votes.”

Prashant Kishor, while explaining about the success of BJP in the last few years, said: “There will always be rebellion or problems in a party, but with the BJP, because they have been on the front foot in politics, it hasn’t come to the fore. When the going is good, everything can be tackled with. On the other hand, the Opposition has been reeling under such problems because they haven’t been able to capitalize on the problems in the BJP.”

When asked about the happenings around the Opposition parties, Prashant Kishor said: “The Opposition had several opportunities but they missed out on most. For example, during Covid, the government’s ratings were at an all-time low but the Opposition did nothing to capitalise on it. Like in cricket, if you drop catches, you lose matches.”

When asked about the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, whether the Mandal and Mandir issues will be in mind over PM Modi, Prashant Kishor said: “The votes will definitely be around PM Modi. Yes, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is big, but if you remove PM Modi from the equation, even the BJP will agree that it would have not been as effective as it is.”

The Express Adda with poll strategist Prashant Kishor has kicked off. Catch it Live here:

Prashant Kishor will be giving his insight on the latest flip-flop by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, its impact on the rest of the nation, and if the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are really a foregone conclusion.

Prashant Kishor has had ringside view of political power, having worked with Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Uddhav Thackeray. In May 2022, however, Kishor launched the Jan Suraaj Abhiyan, which he claims is an attempt to give Bihar a political alternative.

In case you're wondering where to catch up on the conversation, here's a link for you:

Good morning and welcome to our Live Blog. Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who has been the architect of many electoral victories, is today's guest at Express Adda. Follow this space latest updates from his conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express.