BJP will win 55 new seats, let us see who has to pack bags: Shah

Varanasi, May 10 

Exuding confidence that the BJP will better its 2014 Lok Sabha tally, its president Amit Shah has predicted that the saffron party will win over 55 new seats, propelled by its focus on national security and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal.

Shah also scorned Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for their criticism of Modi for attacking their father, the late Rajiv Gandhi, asserting that “they cannot run away from their past however hard they try”.

In an interview, 54-year-old Shah, at the helm of affairs of the ruling party since 2014, said he has succeeded in his plan to expand the BJP’s base across coastal and eastern states.

The BJP swept to its maiden majority in 2014 by winning 282 of 543 seats. 

Asserting that the BJP will get a majority on its own, he said the party would win more than 23 seats in West Bengal and 13-15 seats in Odisha. In 2014, the BJP had won two and one seat in these two states, respectively.

After taking over as BJP chief, Shah had also identified 120 seats spread  across the country as potentially winnable. The party had lost them in 2014. “The BJP will win more than 55 of those constituencies,” he added.

With top Congress leaders slamming Modi for his sharp attack on Rajiv Gandhi, Shah questioned, “Why can he or Jawaharlal Nehru not be criticised simply because they are from the Gandhi family?” 

The BJP president also mocked Rahul Gandhi over his claim that Modi should pack his bags, and said let May 23 come and “we will see who gets to pack his bags”.

With five phases of the General Election over, he also reiterated his claim that the BJP would win more than 73 seats of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh it had won in 2014 along with its ally Apna Dal, and not less.

On the strong social arithmetic in favour of SP-BSP in the largest state, Shah shot back, “You people look at arithmetic. I look at people’s sentiments and they are totally with Modi.” — PTI

On regional satraps as allies

They (like KC Rao and Naveen Patnaik) are welcome to join the ruling National Democratic Alliance, but the BJP will get a majority on its own. People everywhere are voting in the name of Modi. — Amit Shah, BJP President