The BJP on Saturday exuded confidence over its chances in the five Assembly elections, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the party would form the government in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand and improve its performance in Punjab.
BJP president J.P. Nadda and Mr. Shah addressed a press conference at the party headquarters on Saturday evening, at the close of campaigning for the last phase of the U.P. polls on March 7 before the five States’ results are announced on March 10.
The leaders cited the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the impact of welfare schemes as reasons for their assessment.
‘Positive impact’
In response to a question, Mr. Shah said there was a “positive impact” on the elections of the government’s efforts to bring back Indian students from Ukraine. Mr. Modi had made arrangements, an advisory was issued on February 15 and Russian-speaking teams were sent to the neighbouring countries. Indians numbering 16,000 had left Ukraine till Friday and 13,000 of them reached India. Another 16 flights would reach India within 24 hours, he noted.
“There has been a positive impact in the elections and in the country. And when Modi ji met the students, they thanked him and expressed happiness and also gave him good wishes to win the elections,” he stated.
The party would win get the majority in the four States where it was in power and improve its standing in Punjab. He later clarified that he did not mean the BJP would not form a government in Punjab.
Mr. Nadda pointed out that the BJP had contested over 65 seats in Punjab for the first time after the Shiromani Akali Dal left the alliance. The party’s results would be better than expected.
Farmers’ protests
When asked about the impact of the farmers’ protests, Mr. Shah said the issue only remained in the minds of journalists and did not resonate with farmers or political parties.
Mr. Modi’s popularity was more than any Indian Prime Minister and this had benefitted the BJP in these elections, he observed.
Mr. Nadda claimed that schemes to bring the poor into the mainstream like the Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat and Ujjwala had had a positive impact in the five States.
