Disapproving the effort to link his party’s recent electoral debacle in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh with its prospects in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday ridiculed the speculation about the “threat” faced by his party from the combined Opposition in the 2019 polls, saying that there was nothing like a “Mahagathbandhan” in the national level.
“It’s true that the results for BJP weren’t good (in the three north Indian states). But to link this to 2019 wouldn’t be completely right. If we accept this theory, then before 2004 we had won Assembly polls in the same states, yet we lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. In 2013, we had won in these states and we won in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well. We will fight on the basis of the changes that have taken place in the country since 2014,” Shah said.
“In MP, there was a 7-seat gap between us and only 3500 votes cumulatively differentiated us and Congress. In UP and MP, the political issues on the ground needn’t be the same. It’s not possible to undermine PM Modi’s work in these states. We will win the Hindi Heartland in 2019,” Shah said.
In an interview with Republic TV’s Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami at the Republic Summit here, Shah also debunked the “threat” posed by “Mahagathbandhan”, saying: “‘Contrary to the manner in which Mahagathbandhan is being presented in the country today, its reality is different. In the nation-wide scenario, there’s no Mahagathbandhan. If Deve Gowda comes to Maharashtra, how much difference will it make? The same is the case with Mamata Banerjee in Gujarat or Chandrababu Naidu elsewhere? These Mahagathbandhans are in states, they have no impact on the national platform. They aren’t in a position to help each other. You must remember that we beat them all in 2014.”.
Refusing steadfastly to attach any importance to the party’s defeat in the 2018 Lok Sabha by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP president said: “The UP by-polls weren’t a barometer to determine Prime Minister’s performance or popularity. I know Uttar Pradesh well. We lost the by-polls where we had very little least chance of winning. The U.P government has done very well. And we will be even stronger there than we were”.Rs
Responding to questions relating to the 2019 polls, Shah reiterated that the BJP would fight the 2019 Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “‘We are going to fight the elections on the strength of Narendra Modi. This government isn’t fighting to remain in power. It’s a contest to change the country. All previous governments have landed in some form of trouble or the other”.
“This government hasn’t fallen into any such distress – in all the fields like agriculture and industry, bureaucracy and leadership, cities and villages, reforms and raising of standard of living -- all of it has happened. The government takes decisions based on whether it’ll benefit people, not for vote banks,” Shah said.
Queried if the BJP would cobble a “Super NDA” for the 2019 polls, the BJP president said: “‘We have 31 parties. We can still have talks with others and we will form alliances, but until it’s done, I shouldn’t speak. But look at North-East. We’ve come together with a number of small parties. In the South and in UP, we can have alliances. We will go as NDA into 2019, with pre-poll alliances. But the nucleus of the NDA is the BJP and PM Modi”.
Replying to a question on the BJP’s seat projections for the 2019 polls, Shah said: “On seats, I can only make projections after we firm up alliances. But I can say that with the existing seats, the NDA and BJP, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, will make an even bigger gain and come back to power with full majority”.