Prashant Kishor had earlier predicted a massive defeat for YSRCP, insisting that the party will only win 51 seats out of 175.
Published May 16, 2024 | 7:44 PM ⚊ Updated May 16, 2024 | 7:44 PM
Prashant Kishor and AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy
Dismissing his former poll strategist, Prashant Kishor, for the very first time in public, YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy said the ace consultant ‘doesn’t matter’.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, 16 May expressed confidence that his party YSRCP will win more seats in the recently held elections to the 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh than it won the previous time.
A day before elections in Andhra Pradesh, on 12 May, political strategist Prashant Kishor had predicted a massive defeat for YSRCP. He insisted that the party would only win 51 seats in the elections, while speaking to a Telugu TV channel.
Jagan Mohan Reddy was addressing his political consultancy team, I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee), which provided electioneering and political services to the ruling party.
“The party will create history this time winning a greater number of seats than it won last time…A YSRCP landslide is certain in the just concluded elections and the results on 4 June will make the entire country stand up and look at Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Recalling YSRCP’s performance in 2019 where it won 151 Assembly and 22 Lok Sabha seats, the CM said the party will better that performance in this year’s polls. Further, he assured that the YSRCP government will do better for the people of the state in the next five years.
Commenting, for the very first time, on tensions within IPAC as its founder Prashant Kishor chose to work with TDP’s political consultancy firm, Showtime, Jagan said the former IPAC chief didn’t matter.
“There is a lot of conflict going on. All of you are aware of it. The earlier mentor, Prashant, comes and says we are over. It was a dichotomy. A lot of people don’t understand the difference between this team and what Prashant was doing. When this dichotomy came up, I told Rishi that Prashant doesn’t matter, it is this team that matters,” Jagan said referring to Rishi Raj Singh, who currently heads IPAC.
Andhra Pradesh went to polls for Lok Sabha on 13 May, during the fourth phase of elections.
According to Business Today, speaking about what went wrong during the current election, Prashant Kishor claimed that there wasn’t one single mistake but a series of mistakes that Jagan made. Referring to the conflict between Jagan and his sister Sharmila and their mother, he said that those who stood with him in the previous election are now against him.
“From a historic victory to losing in such a way, there can not be a single mistake. He must have made a series of mistakes. First look at his mother and sister, they are both against him. Those who worked so hard for him in 2019 have now stood against him. That itself is dangerous and speaks volumes about how he operated in the last five years. He treated himself like a King, not like a democratically elected leader. He completely ignored the aspirations of the people. Welfare without aspirations has got no meaning,” Prashant Kishor elaborated.
In 2019, Jagan’s YSRCP won with a massive mandate of 151 of the 175 Assembly seats. Addressing his IPAC team, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the party will create history this time with a landslide victory and when it does, the entire country will have eyes on the state.
(Edited by Neena)
