BJP exuded confidence that it would emerge as the number one party in securing votes in the first phase of elections to 10 lok Sabha and 70 Assembly seats to be held on April 10.
Addressing a Press conference on the end of campaigning for the polls on Tuesday, State BJP Prabhari Arun Singh said that the campaigning by a number of national leaders, including prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, had a positive impact on the voters. The party’s vote share has increased to around 33 per cent in all the Parliament and Assembly seats spread over 19 districts in the first phase, leaving behind all other parties, including the ruling BJD, he said.
Singh said, “As per our survey result, the BJP has improved its support base by four per cent due to intense electioneering and coordinated election management by the party in the first phase. By contrast, the vote share of the ruling BJD has dwindled to below 30 per cent.” He added that the Congress would be relegated to the third position.
Stating that the BJP was able to organise at least 16 mega election meetings during the first phase with senior leaders like party president Rajnath Singh, former party president Venkaiah Naidu, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh attending them, he said that the party rank and file was highly motivated and their response was tremendous.
On the other hand, he said the State Congress was lagging behind in electioneering as the party did not have adequate star campaigners except Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who only made a single tour to the State. Similar is the case with ruling BJD which is heavily dependent on party supremo Naveen Patnaik, but the people are fed up with Patnaik’s speech in breaking Odia, Singh said.