BJP performed well without Ram temple, can do again: Prashant Kishor

December 14, 2018 21:58

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still the most popular leader in the country, Janata Dal-United leader Prashant Kishor said on Friday, emphasising he does not see any reason for alarm in the Bharatiya Janata Party after the saffron party suffered setbacks in three Hindi heartland states.

Kishor, who played an important role in shaping the BJP campaign during 2014 polls, said he believes the BJP won that election without resorting to the Ram temple issue and should stick to the development agenda to win the general election next year.

"I do not think there is any cause for alarm for the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still the most popular leader in the country," he told reporters during an informal chat in Patna.

The JD-U is an ally of the BJP in Bihar.

Kishor's comments come three days after the BJP was defeated in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The assembly elections were billed as "semifinals" to the 2019 Lok Sabha election by political observers, who speculate the saffron party might rake up the Ram temple issue ahead of the general election as election results have thrown open the race for 2019.

In the run-up to the assembly elections, right-wing organisations held rallies and programmes to demand that Ram temple be built in Ayodhya.

The BJP has said that the construction of Ram temple is not a political issue for it but a matter of faith.

"The BJP today may not appear as formidable as it was in 2014 but it remains much stronger than it was in 2004 -- when it lost power, and in 2009 -- when it failed to wrest power (from the Congress)," Kishor said about the NDA ally. -- PTI

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