PK’s remarks on AP poll outcome sparks off a political storm in AP

Vijayawada: The remarks of psephologist-turned-politician from Bihar Prashant Kishor (PK) who played a key role in shaping the strategies of YSRCP in 2019 helping it to form government in Andhra Pradesh, that the ruling party is set to lose the elections in the upcoming elections, has raised the political temperatures.

YSRCP has slammed Kishor, and termed him as a politician, who has lost the credibility as a psephologist. Kishor, who raised eyebrows by holding a secret meeting with TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu's residence at Undavalli near here some time ago, on Sunday said at a meeting in Hyderabad that YSRCP led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will lose big in Andhra Pradesh. His remarks have been hailed by TDP and Jana Sena Party, who have already announced candidates for 99 Assembly seats and are waiting for response to fight polls jointly with BJP.

YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader V Vijayasai Reddy said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) "Do not rely on @PrashantKishor's 'gut' who is speaking without logical data after meeting@ncbn for 4 hours. His 'gut' also has no relevance in present-day contemporary politics. AP Govt.'s welfare schemes were a savior of crores of people during Covid and provided a wide safety net to our people."

In another posting, he said, "How can it be called Telugu Desam Party if it is restricted to just 1 out of the 2 Telugu States? It did not dare to fight in Telangana, it did not dare to fight for Rajya Sabha and now after 2024, it will not dare to fight in AP also. The people will reduce TDP to an NGP!"

He said, "The @YSRCParty offers a strong decisive leadership catering to all sections and castes of society under Hon'ble CM @ysjagan garu. The TDP is a one-caste outfit that will only destabilise the functioning of the govt. and work for the benefit of only @ncbn kith and kin."

When contacted, Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath told Bizz Buzz that Prashant Kishor's claim is totally baseless and politically-motivated and blamed the media known close to the TDP and very often described as yellow media by the YSRCP leadership, for blowing his remarks out of proportions. "How can one go by the gut feeling of five crore Telugu people of Andhra Pradesh vis-a-vis the gut feeling of a politician from Bihar," he asked.

Several Ministers including RK Roja, Botcha Satyanarayana and others also questioned the credibility of Kishor's forecast without any basis. They said if he was so confident of TDP's comeback to government, why did he recommend Naidu to align with Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena.

PK worked in the health domain in the United Nations and later became a successful political strategist having worked with the BJP, Congress, JD (U), AAP, DMK and Trinamool Congress. He declared retirement as an election strategist in 2021. In the subsequent year, he declared the formation of Jan Suraaj-to take up public issues in Bihar saying "it's time for him to go to real masters - the people."