'Battle for India will be decided in 2024, not in any state poll': Prashant Kishor's jibe at Modi

KOLKATA: A day after the BJP's emphatic win in assembly elections in four states, poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday said the results will not have any bearing on the next Lok Sabha elections as the "battle for India would be fought and decided in 2024 and not in any state elections".

Bulldozing a resurgent rainbow coalition led by the Samajwadi Party, the BJP on Thursday stormed back to power in Uttar Pradesh and also retained Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, while Arvind Kejriwal's AAP scripted a stellar victory in Punjab, winning a three-fourth majority pulverising its rivals.

Kishor's comment came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for 2024, saying he hopes that political pundits will note that his party's win in the four states has also made clear the verdict for the next general elections as they had linked its win in 2019 to its sweep of the Uttar Pradesh polls in 2017.

"Battle for India will be fought and decided in 2024 & not in any state #elections Saheb knows this! Hence this clever attempt to create frenzy around state results to establish a decisive psychological advantage over opposition. Don't fall or be part of this false narrative." Kishor said on Twitter.