New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that the BJP has managed to win 270 of the 379 seats that went to polls in the initial four phases of the Lok Sabha polls. For the BJP the target that now remains is to go past the 400 mark, he added.
Speaking at a rally at West Bengal, soon after the filing of prime minister’s nomination Shah said that the BJP is confident that it has already won seats to cross the majority mark.
“Four phases of polling have been completed, elections for 380 seats have been completed. In Bengal, elections for 18 seats have been completed. Today, I can confidently tell you that out of 380, PM Modi has achieved absolute majority by already winning 270 seats. The fight ahead is to cross 400,” Shah said.
The Opposition had accused the BJP of going silent on the “400 paar” claim after the first and second phase of elections, but both the prime minister and the home minister have recently reiterated their claim.
The prime minister, in an interview, said that the NDA crossing 400 is now a reality. Similarly, in an interview to a daily, Shah said that the NDA will “certainly cross 400 seats” and that there are no “ifs and buts”.
In its pursuit of 400 seats, the BJP had earmarked 160 seats which it had lost in 2019 with a small margin. Setting aside this focus seats atleast a year and a half before the elections, the BJP had aimed to win at least 50% of the 160 seats.
In these seats, the party has implemented a slew of programmes, including booth strengthening exercises, Lok Sabha Pravas by senior leaders and ministers, rallies by either PM Narendra Modi, party president JP Nadda, home minister Amit Shah, and defence minister Rajnath Singh.
Many of the seats identified were in Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Punjab.