Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the tone for the elections by claiming the BJP would win more than 400 seats. What is the party doing to achieve such ambitious target?
Our Bureau
New Delhi/Mumbai/Guwahati
The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already set the tone for elections by coining a slogan of ‘Crossing 400’ in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. The BJP aims to win more than 370 seats on its own.
It will be the most important election in a generation. On one hand, Modi has a chance of making a hat-trick of wins; on the other hand, the Congress party has an opportunity to revive itself. Two competing ideas of India are at stake in 2024.
Modi is already leading his party’s campaign and managing all aspects of the elections. On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Central Election Committee Meeting (CEC) regarding the Lok Sabha elections at the party headquarters in Delhi comprised discussions on the seats of Lok Sabha across about 17 states and set seals on more than 155 seats, the list of which will be released soon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s National President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Organization General Secretary BL Santosh, Chief Ministers, State Presidents, In-charges, Co-Incharges, and Election In-charges of various states were present in this meeting.
Discussions were held with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding the names of candidates in the meeting. Discussions were also held on the names of candidates with BJP leaders from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
Discussions were also conducted on candidates for the seats in Jammu, while deliberations for Kashmir will take place in the next meeting.
Additionally, discussions were held on two to three seats in Delhi, but another round of meetings will happen. Candidates have been finalized for one seat in Goa, while one seat is yet to be decided.
Around 17 states like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, Assam, Goa and others were discussed in the meeting. Sources say, candidates for nearly 155 seats were finalized in the meeting on Thursday night.
As per sources in the UP BJP, discussions were held on 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh; however, the party has decided to release half of the names in the first list. Among these seats, six have been given to alliance partners in Uttar Pradesh. Apna Dal (Sone Lal Patel) will fight for 2 seats, Rashtriya Lok Dal is likely to get 2 seats in Western Uttar Pradesh, Om Prakash Rajbhars SPBSP will contest for 1 seat, and Sanjay Nishad’s party will contest for 1 seat.
All five seats in Uttarakhand were discussed in CEC and the names could be announced in the first list of the party.
Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP leader Prahlad Patel, and BJP’s State President VD Sharma were also present in the meeting, where discussions were held regarding the names of candidates for all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Out of 17 seats in Telangana, candidates for 4-5 seats were discussed and will get a place in the first list. Three current MPs, G. Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Arvind Dharmapuri may also get tickets again.
Even as the lists are being finalized, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated the “400 seats pitch” during his address to a public event in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad on Friday and said that the slogan of ‘400 paar’ is being raised because the country has faith in “Modi’s guarantee.”
Addressing a public rally in Dhanbad on Friday, PM Modi said that only one sound is audible everywhere and that is ‘Ab ki Baar, 400 paar’.
“The slogan of ‘400 paar’ is being raised because the country has faith in Modi’s guarantee… I want to apologize that the ‘pandal’ is too small today. Only 5 per cent of the people are inside, the rest 95 per cent are outside in the sun,” the Prime Minister said. He further said that the NDA would win over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls as the country is relying on Modi’s guarantee.
The PM hit out at the Congress and its allies saying that they were the enemies of positive development in the country.
“Congress and its alliance parties are the biggest enemies of development… The foundation stone of the Electricity power plant of North Karanpura was laid by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the end of the previous century… After that, the scammer government of Congress came into power and this project was shut down… In 2014, I gave a guarantee of reviving this project. Today, a no. of houses are lightened because of this power plant” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, Modi on Wednesday said that every moment of his life is devoted to the resolve of making India a developed country and the development work done by his government over the past 10 years has laid the foundation for the next 25 years.
Addressing a gathering here in which he unveiled multiple development projects worth over Rs 4900 crore, the Prime Minister said there is an echo in the entire country that the BJP-led NDA will get over 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“I bow down to the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. I also bow down to Baba Saheb Ambedkar… When, 10 years ago, I came to Yavatmal for ‘Chai pe Charcha’, you blessed us. The people of India made the NDA cross 300. In 2019, we crossed 350. Today ahead of the 2024 election, when I have come to join the festival of development, then only one voice is echoing in the country, this time over 400,” he said.
He said women from all sections have come to the programme “to bless us”.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma too has expressed confidence in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossing 400 seats in the general elections of the Lok Sabha. While addressing a press conference at Basistha in Guwahati district on Thursday, CM Sarma claimed that the Congress party is ‘bound to be history’. He further claimed that the grand old party’s national status will diminish.
“Congress is bound to be history. Congress will be segregated into various regional parties. The national status of Congress will diminish after this election because the NDA is heading to a 400-plus victory,” CM Sarma said.
After the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh won eight seats in the Rajya Sabha elections, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi expressed happiness and said that it was an indication that the party would cross the 400 mark in the Lok Sabha elections and win 80 out of 80 seats in the state. “It is a matter of great happiness that all eight BJP candidates won. This is an indication that this time we will cross 400 (in Lok Sabha elections) and win 80 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh,” said Trivedi.
But after the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party won 10 out of 15 seats in three states, Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali on Wednesday said that it is happening for the first time in our country that, on one side, the ruling party is saying that they will get 400 seats this time, but on the other hand, they are working to break the opposition parties. Danish Ali also mentioned that these types of things are not good for democracy and the country’s politics.
“This is happening for the first time in the politics of the country. On one side, the ruling party is saying that they will be at 400, but on the other hand, they are working to break the opposition parties. The ruling party has formed a committee, and these people are responsible for seeing who will do cross-voting and who will break the MLAs of other parties. This is not good for Indian politics or Indian democracy,” he said.
The election 2024 will be a big test for Indian democracy, with two competing visions in front of the biggest electorate in the world.
