Exclusive | NDA will cross 400 mark before 12:30 pm on June 4, can win all 80 seats in UP, says Amit Shah

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief strategist Amit Shah made a bold prediction that the National Democratic will win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections before 12:30 pm on June 4, the day of the result. In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor Rahul Joshi, Shah gave a state-by-state analysis of NDA’s performance and predicted the alliance winning all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Even though questions are being raised on the lower voter turnout in comparison to the 2019 General Elections, Shah said Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister again. “NDA winning 400 seats is absolutely on track. You will see on counting day, before 12.30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime Minister. There are many reasons for the lower turnout. After twelve years, the electoral rolls have been revised. The second reason is that there is no contest from the other side, which affects the turnout in a way. My party’s team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I don’t see any problem in crossing the target of 400.”

The voter turnout in the second phase was 66.7%, which was less than the figures of the 2019 parliamentary polls. In the first phase, the turnout was 65.5% as compared to 69.43% in the phase one of the 2019 parliamentary polls.

The NDA won 352 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and this time the BJP is aiming to win 370 seats and NDA to cross the 400 mark. Statewise, Shah said the NDA can win all the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of Lok Sabha seats. “In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our seats by five to seven. If everything goes well, we can win 80 out of 80,” Shah said. In 2019, the NDA won 64 seats in Uttar Pradesh down from 73 in 2014 elections.

Shah is confident of NDA winning of at least 40 seats in Maharashtra, the state with second highest number of Lok Sabha seats at 48. “Sure, the figure of 41 may become 40 or 42, but the result will be more or less the same,” he said even though the alliance is struggling to find candidates on a few seats. The NDA won 41 seats in the last polls.

The NDA won all seats in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. “We will repeat the results there,” Shah addded.

In Gujarat, Kshatriyas are unhappy with the candidature of Union Minister Purshottam Rupala from Rajkot. “We will get all 26 seats in Gujarat. And the margins will also be higher than in the 2019 elections for all seats. We are constantly communicating with Kshatriyas. I have full faith that everything will be fine. We will win all 26 seats and our margins will also go up,” Shah said.

Shah is confident of NDA winning at least 12 out of 14 seats in Assam, 30 out of 42 seats in West Bengal and 16 out of 21 seats in Odisha. In 2019 polls, the NDA won nine seats in Assam, 18 in West Bengal and eight in Odisha. “Assessment is still ongoing. I have only had one round, assessment will happen, but I can say with certainty that the people of Odisha will bless the Bharatiya Janata Party this time,” he added.

The BJP has focussed on southern states this time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting as many times in the last few months. The BJP is hopeful of opening its account in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

“In the south, all four states combined, we will be ahead of Congress. We have fought a very good election and will open our account. But estimating the seats there is a problem because there are very close fights. We have an alliance in Andhra Pradesh. We are fighting a very good election. It is just the beginning. We should perform very well in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana. We could win our highest seats so far from there,” he said.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha election is underway and the voting is over in the first two phases. The polling for the third phase is on May 7 and the fate of Amit Shah from Ahmedabad seat in Gujarat will be sealed.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow