With Uttar Pradesh progressing to the fourth phase of voting on Thursday, the BJP on Tuesday expressed confidence that it will win majority in the Assembly elections, even as it pointed to its impressive run in the Odisha local polls saying the eastern State was on its way to becoming “Congress-mukt” and that it has emerged as the key rival to the ruling BJD.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference, senior BJP leader and Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the BJP would score a majority in UP polls as SP and BSP are only fighting for the role of main Opposition party.
“We have full confidence that BJP will win with majority in Uttar Pradesh and form the Government. Both SP and BSP are fighting for the role of Opposition. People will decide who will be the Opposition party between SP and BSP," he told newspersons here.
Naidu also criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for his “donkeys of Gujarat” comment, saying language used was not “people’s language”. On Yadav’s comment about “donkeys of Gujarat”, he said, “When we address the people, we should speak the people's language. We understand that this (Yadav's comment) is not people's language”.
While addressing a rally at Rae Bareli, Yadav advised Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan not to endorse the “donkeys of Gujarat”.
Without taking names, he referred to an advertisement in which Bachchan, the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, is seen inviting tourists to visit the Wild Ass Sanctuary located in little Rann of Kutch in the State.
The so called political spats apart, the sanctuary in Gujarat is one of its own kind in the world. Naidu said the SP has aligned with Congress which was “responsible for black money and corruption.”
BJP also hit out at the Congress after performing credibly in Odhisha local polls. BJP General Secretary Arun Singh, who is also the State’s in-charge, claimed that the party’s performance is a big step towards realising its goal of putting up a good show in coastal States, which include Odisha, in the next lok Sabha polls.
“The Odisha results show that the Congress is no longer a major player in the State, which is now almost Congress-mukt (Congress-free). We will be in power in 8 to 10 district bodies out of the total 30. It is an unprecedented performance for the BJP,” he said.
The BJP has won over 260 district councils seats compared to the BJD's 370 and Congress' 48 with the results of the last phase of the five-round polls yet to be announced.
Singh described it as impressive as it's a virtual sweep in tribal regions of Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj and Malkangiri, which are traditional Congress strongholds.