Renowned poll strategist Prashant Kishor has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should "step aside" and "take a break" if his party doesn't perform well in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are just days away.
The poll strategist said that Gandhi has been “unsuccessfully” running the party for the last 10 years and didn't want to hand over the reins to anyone else.
“When you are doing the same work for the last 10 years without any success, then there is no harm in taking a break... You should allow someone else to do it for five years,” Kishor said in an interview with an Indian news agency.
Kishor also explained that the Gandhi scion believes he knows everything and feels he needs someone to carry out what he thinks is right, which is not possible.
The poll strategist, who briefly worked with the Congress on a revival plan for the party before parting ways due to disagreements with its leadership, also accused the former Congress president of leading in an "undemocratic" manner.
He said that when Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the dismal show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he had said that he would step down and let someone else take charge, but he acted contrary to his words.
He said that when Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the dismal show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he had said that he would step down and let someone else take charge, but he acted contrary to his words.
The poll strategist also claimed that many members of the grand old party have admitted that they can't make decisions with the party's consent.
Kishor Forecasts BJP Triumph in South & East India
In the same interview, the poll strategist predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win big in the southern and eastern states of the country, adding a significant number of seats to its tally.
“I had said this a year back that for the first time I see the BJP in double digits in Tamil Nadu in terms of vote share. They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal,” Kishor said.
However, he also said that the saffron party won't be able to achieve its target of winning 370 out of 540 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.