As West Bengal voted for the fourth phase on Saturday, 10 April, a war of words erupted after a video of a Clubhouse chat went viral in which Mamata Banerjee’s election strategist Prashant Kishor can be heard saying that PM Narendra Modi is equally popular to the chief minister in the state and that the majority is voting for the BJP.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders reacted to the clip, saying that Kishore himself knows PM Modi is a better choice for the people of West Bengal.
Reacting to the comments, Kishor accused the BJP of spreading clips selectively and challenged the party to release the full conversation, reiterating his previous claim that the BJP will not cross the 100-seat mark in West Bengal.
What Did Kishor Say in the Chat?
First Clip: ‘Modi as Popular as Mamata, Majority Voting for the BJP’
The clips were shared by the BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya. In the first clip, Kishor can be heard saying that the Hindi speakers and the 27 percent Dalits in the state are all voting for the BJP.
“People are voting in the name of Modi and in the name of Hinduism. Polarisation, Modi, Hindi-speaking people, SC, these are the factors (on which people are voting.) The names like Suvendu (Adhikari) and Prashant Kishor don’t matter. Modi is popular here. There are over 1 crore Hindi-speaking people. There are 27 percent Dalits in the state and they all are supporting the BJP. And then there’s polarisation as well,” Kishor says.
Kishor is then asked who the Matua community is voting for, to which he replies: “Matuas will be predominantly voting for the BJP, not as unitedly as they did in the Lok Sabha. I think it will vote 75 percent for the BJP and 25 percent for TMC. We have conducted a survey asking who will you vote for and who will form the government. The answer to 'who will form government' is predominantly BJP. We analysed why it was so and realised that those who are BJP voters will anyway say the BJP will come to power. The 15% voters who are are with the Left – two-thirds of them believe the BJP forming the government. So, you will always hear a majority saying that the BJP is coming to power.”
“The Left supporters say whatever happens, if the BJP comes to power, at least we will be back in business, at least Mamata will lose. This is a matter of perception. The substantive issue on the ground is people think BJP does not have workers on the ground. That is not true. The BJP has many workers on the ground and they may all be imported from the Left but they are working dedicatedly for the BJP. There is no area in Bengal where BJP does not have strong cadre," he is heard saying.
A journalist then asks who exactly is voting for the TMC if all are voting for the BJP, to which he replied: “I have said that 50-55 percent Hindus are voting for the BJP.”
Second Clip: ‘Can’t Deny Minority Appeasement for 20 Years, Hindus Feel Heard by BJP’
In a second clip shared by Malaviya, Kishor can be heard admitting to minority appeasement by the political parties of West Bengal for 20 years and making the Muslim vote a deciding factor to rule the state.
“The major problem that we have to accept is that for 20 years, there has been blatant effort and everything has been done to appease the minority. Look at West Bengal, the main falsafa of politics here is that whoever the Muslims vote for will form the government. so the whole political ecosystem, whether it is the Congress or the Left or the BJP, all have made efforts to get the Muslim votes. The first time, Hindus (in Bengal) have felt that somebody is taking them into consideration as well. I am not saying that the perspective of the society is wrong. There is definitely some element which the BJP is exploiting. That element is coming from the blatant misuse of minority politics by some of these parties, which people like you and me cannot deny,” Kishor said.
3rd Clip: Kishor Is Told the Chat is Open and Somebody has Tweeted that He Declared BJP Win in Bengal
In the third clip shared by Malviya, a participant in the chat can be heard telling Kishor that some people are tweeting about the ongoing chat and claiming that Kishor has declared a victory for the BJP in West Bengal, to which Kishor is heard asking “is it (the chat) open?”
Kishor is then told that somebody called Himanshu Jain has tweeted so and that somebody from the chat is reporting to Himanshu Jain.
“These things don’t matter, anybody can say anything,” a journalist says, but is told that these things get leaked and used as ‘evidence.’
‘Challenge BJP To Release the Full Conversation’: Kishor
Reacting to the leaks, Kishor slammed the BJP for sharing selective parts of the conversation and challenged it to release the full chat.
“I am glad BJP is taking my chat more seriously than words of their own leaders! They should show courage & share the full chat instead of getting excited with selective use of parts of it. I have said this before & repeating again - BJP will not to CROSS 100 in WB. Period. (sic)” he tweeted.
Kishor Knows Modi Can Bring ‘Sonar Bangla’: BJP Leaders
Reacting to the leaks, several BJP leaders said that Kishor had admitted to the party’s win in West Bengal.
“Prashant Kishor also knows that Modiji is the best and a 'Sonar Bangla' will be made under his leadership. But to fool the people, he got associated with the TMC,” BJP leader Locket Chatterjee said in Hooghly.
BJP leader Rajib Banerjee was quoted by ANI as saying that Kishor’s strategy has failed in West Bengal and PM Modi’s strategy has worked.
Coochbehar MP Nisith Pramanik told ANI: “Narendra Modiji is famous throughout the world. Prashant Kishor has done the work of putting the last nail in the coffin, finishing the TMC.”
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