National security, Modi appeal will propel BJP to better its 2014 tally: Shah

Expressing confidence that the BJP will better its 2014 tally, its president Amit Shah has predicted that the saffron party will win over 55 new seats in the Lok Sabha elections, propelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal and popular support to its national security plank.

Shah also scoffed at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for their criticism of Modi for attacking their father late Rajiv Gandhi, asserting that "they cannot run away from their past however much they try".

In an interview to PTI, Shah, who is at the ruling party's helm since 2014, talked about various aspects of the high-stakes elections, where a fragmented opposition is taking on the BJP-led NDA, which hopes to retain power, riding on its nationalism and development planks.

The BJP had swept to its maiden majority in 2014 by winning unprecedented 282 of 543 Lok Sabha seats.

Asserting that the BJP will get a majority on its own, 54-year-old Shah said his work over the last five years to expand the party's base across coastal and eastern states, where it has been traditionally weak, will bear fruits in these polls.

The party will win more than 23 seats in West Bengal and 13-15 seats in Odisha, he added. The BJP had won two and one seat in these two states respectively in 2014.

After taking over as BJP chief, Shah had also identified 120 seats spread across the country as potentially winnable. The party had lost them in 2014.

"The BJP will win more than 55 of those constituencies," he added.

Asked if the BJP will be able to repeat 2014 feat when it had swept north and west India, he said some seats may go this way or that way but his party will get more than 282 seats.

Noting that he has covered more than 300 Lok Sabha seats during his campaign since January this year, Shah said his party has succeeded in enhancing its support base in regions where it had not done well in earlier elections.

With top Congress leaders slamming Modi for his sharp attack on Rajiv Gandhi, Shah asked "why he or Jawaharlal Nehru cannot be criticised simply because they are from the Gandhi family?"
Asked about the strong social arithmetic in the favour of Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in the largest state, Shah shot back, "You people look at arithmetic. I look at people's sentiments and they are totally with Modi."