Sena’s Raut predicts BJP rout in 2024 and Congress-led coalition govt

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has predicted the BJP will be reduced to an opposition party after the 2024 general election, which will be won by a Congress-ruled coalition government.

Raut, who belongs to BJP’s one-time ally, said on Saturday he does not believe what poll strategist Prashant Kishor has forecast about the saffron party. “No government can be formed without the Congress, which is a major and deeply rooted party in the country. The Congress is the main opposition party too. Others are regional parties,” he explained, after addressing the JS Karandikar memorial lecture organised by the Pune press club.

“The BJP claims that it is the world’s biggest party. If the world’s biggest party loses elections, they will become an opposition party. For example, in Maharashtra, the BJP is the main opposition party with 105 MLAs,” Raut added.

Kishor, on his part, had said during a visit to Goa that the BJP will be a force in Indian politics for decades to come. “The BJP is going to be at the centre of Indian politics, whether they win, whether they lose – like it was for the first 40 years for the Congress. The BJP is going nowhere. Once you secure 30 per cent votes at the India level, you are not going away in a hurry,” Kishor said.

The strategist has also frequently criticised the Congress, saying Rahul Gandhi is the problem of the party. “That is where the problem lies with Rahul Gandhi. Probably, he thinks that it is just a matter of time when people will throw him (PM Narendra Modi) away. That’s not happening,” Kishor said.

The Shiv Sena is sharing power in Maharashtra with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party though speculation has been on that the Sena might go back to its old partner, the BJP.

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