Rajnath credits Modi factor for clean sweep

With assembly results favouring a clean sweep for the BJP, party president Rajnath Singh said that they got maximum benefit from Narendra Modi’s popularity and expressed confidence that the party would win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

After his party’s parliamentary board meeting, Singh told reporters that of the 589 constituencies that faced polls in four states, the BJP won 405 seats which is about 69 per cent of the verdict and a clear indication of people voting for good governance offered by party in the states.

“The BJP has won people’s affection due to the popularity of its chief ministerial candidates and our prime ministerial candidate,” Rajnath Singh said.

He said while the Congress has been rejected by the voters, evident from the humiliating defeat for the party in the four states, BJP chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh did not face “anti-incumbency” but pro-incumbency” as the BJP has won its third consecutive terms in those states.

The BJP did not make it over the finish line in Delhi as the party fell short of four seats to boast a clear majority. Asked how the party would stake claim in Delhi as it is only the single largest party, Singh said, “Wait for the outcome”.

BJP leaders spoke of two options. The first one is to form a minority government to test their strength on the floor of the house later, while they did not rule out some of the Congress MLAs resigning and contesting later on their ticket as some of them had done earlier in Karnataka .