Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Thursday said that on June 4, the day the Lok Sabha poll votes will be counted, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the majority mark in 400 seats by 12.30 pm. Shah’s statements emphasised the BJP’s Lok Sabha elections slogan — ‘Aab ki paar, 400 paar’.
In an interview with News18, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership would repeat its 2019 Lok Sabha election performance in Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Gujarat.
During the interview, Shah also said that in West Bengal, the BJP will win “at least 30 seats’, where the saffron party is taking on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by its supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
On BJP’s struggle in South India
Acknowledging a close fight in the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP would “open accounts in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu”. Shah also stated that the BJP would be “ahead of the Congress” in all four southern states combined.
On Low Voter turnout in Lok Sabha Elections 2024
In the interview, Amit Shah attributed the reduced voter turnout to what he described as the “incompetence” of the Opposition. Additionally, he pointed to the revision of electoral rolls after 12 years as a contributing factor to the decline in voter participation.
On EVM manipulation allegations by Rahul Gandhi
The Union home minister categorically rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi‘s electronic voting machine tampering allegations. Questioning the argument, Shah asked why the BJP could not win in Tamil Nadu or faced defeat in Telangana if the tampering allegations were true.
“When you win, EVM is right. When you lose, EVM is useless.” Amit Shah jibed at Rahul Gandhi.
Shah also accused the Congress of suppressing the Mandal Commission report, terming the grand old party “anti-backward class”. “Rahul Gandhi has a rule — lie, lie loudly, lie repeatedly. And he is following that rule,” Amit Shah said.
On Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest
The home minister defended the timing of Arvind Kejriwal‘s and Hemant Soren’s arrests by stating that they would have been held six months before the elections if they had appeared after the initial summonses. He highlighted that despite multiple summonses, they failed to comply with the directives, leading to their eventual arrest.
On allegations made by Sunita Kejriwal that there was a conspiracy to kill Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail, Amit Shah told News18 that Tihar jail, where Kejriwal is lodged, comes under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government and not the Union Home Ministry.
“Look, Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government, whose Chief Minister is Kejriwal ji. So is he conspiring to kill himself,” Shah told News18.
On CAA
Amit Shah also stated that the initial citizenship grants under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are slated for issuance in May 2024. He noted that the influx of applications for citizenship under the CAA had already commenced. “I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start,” he said.
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Published: 02 May 2024, 09:30 PM IST