Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Days before the final phase of elections, Union Minister Amit Shah has predicted that the BJP will form governments in all three states, including Odisha, where simultaneous Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls are being held.
“We will surely cross 400 seats and also form governments in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh,” he told news agency Press Trust of India in an exclusive interview.
Shah said that the BJP will win 75 seats in the 147-member Odisha assembly and 16-17 of the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats.
While attributing the good show in Opposition-ruled states to the performance of the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Home Minister predicted that the saffron party will win anywhere between 24 to 30 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal while its alliance will bag nearly 17 of 25 Lok Sabha seats and storm to power in Andhra Pradesh too.
“People are angry with the Mamata Banerjee-led government over issues of corruption, cow and coal smuggling and infiltration, and the Sandeshkhali issue has exposed as to what extent she can stoop in her appeasement politics.”
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He added that the BJP will also improve its tally in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “We have a new team. I will not make an estimate with figures. But our seats and vote share will increase and we will certainly lay a strong foundation in Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that the party is in a good position in three seats in Kerala.
This came a day after Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik asserted that his party would provide a ‘very stable’ government. BJD leader V K Pandian further claimed that the regional party’s strike rate in each of the three-round elections was ’85 per cent’. “BJD is sweeping the elections, we have already secured a majority to form the government from these 105 seats. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath and the love of the people of Odisha, the BJD will gain an even greater majority in the final phase,” Pandian told reporters.
