'Modi will be the next PM': Nitin Gadkari explains why BJP is confident of 400-plus seats

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is confident that the BJP-led NDA will get 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha elections and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return for another term. The BJP has set a target of 370 seats for the party and 400-plus seats for the NDA, which comprises JDU, TDP, Shiv Sena, NCP, and other smaller parties. Gadkari was in an interview asked why the saffron party was so confident of this number when it had already maxed out in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.      

"Frankly speaking, at the time of the assembly election in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, the people were also talking at that time that it will be difficult and tough for the BJP. But after the election, it was proved that people vote(d) for BJP - because of the individual benefit politics. For the poor people, we have implemented (schemes) a nice way," he said while speaking to ThePrint. 

The BJP stunned the Congress by wresting Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, and retaining Madhya Pradesh in assembly elections in December 2023.

Gadkari said that one can compare 60 years of the Congress and 10 years of the BJP under PM Modi. He said it is very clear that people have faith, and they also feel that Modi and BJP can come to their expectations. "And that is the feeling of the people. I'm very much positive and confident that people will vote for BJP," he said. 

The union minister, who is also referred to as 'highway minister' because of the pace and scale at which roads have been constructed under his watch, acknowledged that the South will be tough for the party this time, but said the region will give a boost for the NDA. 

"This time, South is difficult, but South, in this election, will give us a boost. We are very much confident in Karnataka. Regarding Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where our strength is negligible, but still we will take a good victory. And regarding Andhra Pradesh, we have good allies. And Telangana also, our performance will be better as compared with the last election."

In Southern India, Karnataka is the only state where the saffron party has a considerable presence. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the party had bagged 25 of 28 seats. This time, the BJP is contesting in alliance with the JDS. In Telangana, the party had won 4 of 17 seats in 2019. In Andhra, which has 25 seats, the saffron party could not win any seats in 2019. This time, the party has clinched an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu's TDP.  

The BJP is making all-out efforts to open its account in Tamil Nadu, which has 39 Lok Sabha seats, under the leadership of its firebrand leader K Annamalai. Here, the saffron party has allied with Anbumani Ramadoss-led Pattali Makkal Katchi, GK Vasan's Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), and TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam.      

Political strategist Prashant Kishor has predicted that the BJP will increase its vote share in Tamil Nadu, and can come first or second in Telangana. He said the saffron party will win 300-plus seats but added that it may not cross 370.