Not even 200 seats to bjp, avers Raj

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not get even 200 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections, claimed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday. He said that the popularity graph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was falling rapidly owing to failure in governance. Mr Thackeray also said that BJP's propaganda about the inevitability of Mr Modi's return as PM would backfire in the elections. Mr Thackeray, who has been on a statewide tour since May 1, is presently visiting each city of northern Maharashtra.

“Mr Modi's popularity started going down with the Gujarat polls. The BJP won only 99 seats despite putting everything into battle. The PM himself campaigned heavily. So, as per 2014 election results' data, they should have got 165 seats in the Gujarat Assembly. That was the first sign of BJP's decline,” said Mr Thackeray.

The MNS chief said that his support to Mr Modi was issue-based. "I had gone to Gujarat when I thought that if this person comes to power at the national level, he can do something good for the country. But nothing happened and BJP lost track. People are so angry now that BJP will only get to see it in the elections," he said.

In the 2014 LS elections, the BJP won 282 seats.