The BJP will win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared on Friday as he took a dig at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha move.
Speaking to Network18’s Group Editor-in Chief Rahul Joshi, Singh, when asked about the BJP’s 2014 record in the politically crucial state, said: “This time, it will be 80 out of 80.”
Asked if it means the BJP will win Amethi, Raebareli, Kannauj and Azamgarh as well, the minister said: “Yes. Who used to contest elections from Raebareli? Sonia Gandhi has now come to Rajya Sabha, it’s clear why that happened.”
The prestigious Amethi and Raebareli seats were considered Congress bastions. In 2019, the BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, held Raebareli since 2004, but she has recently took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP. The 77-year-old Congress leader has said she will not contest the Lok Sabha elections due to her age and health. The Congress has yet to declare candidates for Amethi and Raebareli.
Amid rumours of Gandhi son-in-law Robert Vadra making his political debut from Amethi, Singh said whoever contests will have to face loss against the BJP. “…Because our candidate Smriti Irani has done a very good job there. Her performance has been good in her constituency as well as in the House. As a minister also, her performance has been very good.”
The minister said it was the decision of the Congress to field whoever they want when asked about the BJP’s stand against nepotism. “He [Vadra] can if he wants to. What do we have to do in that? We don’t need to say anything. This is Congress’s decision, not ours.”
During the interview, Singh also said the BJP had fulfilled its electoral promise of building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. When asked about the popular slogan ‘Mathura, Kashi baaki hai’, the defence minister said the matter is sub-judice and the decision should be awaited.
“There is no doubt that India is a secular nation, nobody should have any objection to this. But I would not like to say anything about Kashi, Mathura at this time because the matter is pending in the court,” he said, responding to a question about how many more temples the government would build.
‘NITISH KUMAR NEVER ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION’
Singh also expressed confidence that the NDA will sweep all seats in Bihar.
Asked about the BJP’s decision to ally with ‘Paltu Ram’ Nitish Kumar once again, the minister said the Bihar chief minister “saw the situation and decided that they should remain with BJP”. “This is in the interest of the country. People can say whatever they want to say about Nitish-ji. But it is true that in his long history of work, he has never been accused of corruption. It is a big thing. If he is with us, then it is really a matter of joy for us.”
The minister insisted that Kumar had himself said he was here to stay with the BJP and both the parties would fight the assembly elections too together.
WEST BENGAL
The BJP won 18 of 40 seats in West Bengal in 2019 and Singh expressed confidence that the number would double this year.
“It is certain that we will win more seats than before. Our effort is to double the 18 to 36. This is what we are trying,” he said.
Asked about the rationale behind his assertion, Singh hit out at the Mamata Banerjee government. “There is nothing called government in West Bengal. Earlier, the Communist Party also had a government there. There was a stable government for years. There should have been rapid development in the state. No government could do this despite being stable. People have now started understanding the truth that if there’s any political party that can bring true development, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party, if any alliance can do it, it’s NDA. And today, people have the belief that only PM Modi can do this.”
The minister agreed that Sandeshkhali was also a major issue this time. “It is a big factor, people are hurt. The state government was silent on such an unfortunate incident. And you must have seen that the state government faced criticism from the court.”
Comments
0 comment