BJP will better 2014 tally, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Asserting that the “hope and expectation” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that was there during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections has “turned into confidence and belief,” the BJP on Tuesday claimed it would win more parliamentary seats than it did in 2014.

Union home minister and senior leader Rajnath Singh said the Opposition camp has been claiming that it would be a non-NDA government that would come to power after May 23, Mr Singh said voters should not be kept in the dark in a healthy democracy as till today, it is “Modi vs Who.” He also said that the BJP could win 74 out of 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh.

With only the last phase of the polls to go for 59 seats on May 19, the senior leader asked the Opposition to not play “hide and seek” with the people by not announcing who is its leader. The BJP had won 282 of 543 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.

Taking on Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s justification for his “neech aadmi” jibe against Mr Modi, Mr Singh said that no Indian PM has been “abused” as much as him, and asked the Congress to respond on its leader’s comments. The Congress had suspended Mr Aiyar after his personal attack on Mr Modi but had revoked his suspension later.

“2014 was about Modi versus Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. In 2019, it is Modi versus who? That is unknown... If they are claiming, they should say who would lead them. People should not be kept in the dark in a healthy democracy. The opposition should not play hide and seek,” said Mr Singh. He also took a swipe at the likely meeting of Opposition leaders, saying they are unable to elect a leader as they know that they will not get a majority.

Mr Singh said that the BJP has set a target of winning 74 of the state’s 80 seats in UP as though it earlier believed that the SP-BSP-RLD alliance could be effective but it has fizzled out.

Mr Singh also slammed the Congress for coining terms like “Hindu terror” and said all parties should stand together on such an issue. He said the Modi government’s success has three hallmarks — ‘antyodaya’ (uplift of the last person in the queue), ensuring the country’s development and security and accused the Congress of “weakening” India’s battle against terrorism

The BJP leader counted it as one of the big successes of the government that price rise was not an issue for the Opposition, saying it showed how the government had tamed inflation. He added in a lighter vein that the inflation rate was over 12 per cent in Pakistan, and India did not allow it to cross the Wagah border.

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