After the polling for the first phase of General Elections began for 102 Lok Sabha constituencies across 21 states and Union territories, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said he was expecting BJP’s best-ever performance in South India in the polls.
After filing his nominations from Gandhi Nagar, speaking exclusively to NDTV, he said that he feels that the party was headed for its “best show in Southern states”.“We will have a strong result in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and Karnataka. On the back of PM Narendra Modi’s increasing popularity, we will get more votes and seats in South India, for the first time,” he added.
He also cited the increase in BJP’s vote share between 2014 and 2019 and said that the party’s outreach in the South will help open accounts in some and better vote percentage in others. His statement echoes popular political perception that the BJP is slated for strong inroads in Southern states including Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Countering the Opposition’s charge on the now-scrapped electoral bonds system,Amit Shah asked if the Opposition parties would also describe donations they received through bonds as “extortion”.
His remarks were a sharp response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has said the electoral bonds system was the “world’s biggest extortion scheme” and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “champion of corruption”.
“Their parties have also received donations through bonds. Is that extortion as well? Rahul Gandhi must tell the people, yes, we have also extorted. And the donation they have received in proportion to the number of MPs is more than what we got. They don’t have an issue, there is no allegation of corruption against us. So they are trying to create confusion. They won’t be successful,” he added.
Amit Shah asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ten years of governance remain unblemished and there has not been a single case of corruption. He deplored that a concerted campaign is being run against him to spread canard and fan false propaganda.
The Union Home Minister also reiterated the government’s zero tolerance policy on Maoism. He slammed Congress for calling the recent Bastar encounter “fake”, in which 29 ultras were neutralised by the forces and said, “When Congress government was in power, no action happened on Maoists but our government has cracked down on them.”
