IPAC Is Worthless Without PK?

Back in 2019, Prashant Kishor and his IPAC team played an undeniably strong role in leading Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YCP to power in Andhra Pradesh. Later, PK opted out of IPAC to embark on his own journey in Bihar politics.

But that didn’t stop Jagan from employing IPAC again for the 2024 election. But this time, the end result was outrageously different as Jagan came down from being a CM to just an MLA and not even the opposition leader.

In fact, Jagan was so badly misinformed by IPAC that he went to their office after the counting and said he will win more than 151 seats in 2024. While in reality, YCP won 11 seats.

It appeared that the IPAC team which did countless surveys ahead of the election, covering aspects right from candidates selection, to favorable voting in rural and urban pockets, had no clue of the ground level consensus.

With Prashant Kishor, there was a clear plan of action for Jagan as he orchestrated mega walkathon, reach the masses and turn the voting in his favor. This effectiveness was lacking in 2024 as Jagan planned Siddham meetings which faced allegations of paying money to bring crowds.

Sure, Prashant Kishor or IPAC might not have saved Jagan from the shambolic result if the public actually was so against him that YCP got just 11 seats. But at least, a veteran like PK might have kept Jagan better informed of the ground level talk.

If anything, Prashant Kishor kept repeatedly claiming before 2024 election that Jagan is going to lose big. But Jagan wasn’t bothered about this as he still trusted in IPAC which eventually led to him crashing down at the rate of knots. In the end, perhaps IPAC is also worthless without PK.