Union home minister Amit Shah, on March 20, said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strength will significantly increase in Odisha as the people of the state have shown immense affection towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a sentiment echoed by the ground cadre.
“Both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, BJP’s tally will increase manifold in Odisha. As of now, it has not been decided whether our party will forge an alliance with Biju Janata Dal. If we fight together, Naveen Patnaik will be the leader. If we contest alone, we will definitely think of forming our own government,” Amit Shah said in an interview with Network18 Group editor-in-chief Rahul Joshi at News18’s Rising Bharat.
Alliances are never forged on the basis of needs, and BJP has been supported by many parties in Parliament for making decisions in the interest of the country, Shah added.
“Whether it was the implementation of GST, abrogation of Article 370, or the Electoral Bonds Scheme, we have received immense support. Even Congress didn’t oppose when our government brought the Electoral Bonds Scheme,” said Shah.
South outreach
Speaking on Congress leader DK Suresh’s remarks that the southern states of India will raise a demand for a separate country if the Centre doesn’t release funds, the Union home minister said the grand old party didn’t show any indifference or stayed away from his statement.
“People of this country are aware that Congress wants to divide this country – South India and North India, but the BJP is strong enough and will never allow another division,” said Amit Shah.
It is unfortunate that the Congress party has resorted to the slogan of dividing the country to win elections, he said, adding that the leader who made this statement has been given a ticket once again.
On a query about South India having 130 seats and how many seats the party was expecting in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said the party’s focus is on getting over 370 seats and his party will receive support from all sides.
“The party has better prospects of achieving this target with support from Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Punjab as well,” he added.
People's affection for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP will definitely convert into votes and seats.
Alliance in Bihar and Maharashtra
Amit Shah said the BJP has not switched sides; it was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who joined them.
“Our position has always been the same. We were on the sides of the Ganga, and Nitish Kumar joined us. Our party negotiated with JD(U) and decided to allocate them 16 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. We have taken the position of being an elder brother and decided to contest more seats than JD(U). We are hopeful of registering a landslide victory,” said Amit Shah.
He also mentioned that there is no scope left to have any alliance with Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) president Pashupati Kumar Paras, who resigned as Union Minister of Food Processing on March 19.
Shah also spoke on bringing many parties together in Maharashtra and claimed that NDA will win more than 41 seats in the state. He also accused the INDIA alliance parties of spreading the false narrative that BJP has disintegrated parties in the state.
“There is no role of the BJP in splitting the parties. The split in Shiv Sena was because of Uddhav Thackeray’s beloved son. Had the party given due respect to Eknath Shinde, there would have been no split. And NCP split happened because of Sharad Pawar’s beloved daughter,” said Shah.
He said the BJP has not decided on a seat-sharing pact, but it will contest in alliance with the Shinde faction and Ajit Pawar faction.
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