BJP will sweep Assam, West Bengal: Amit Shah after polling for 1st phase concludes

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 28

Exuding confidence in winning both West Bengal and Assam elections, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday thanked the people of the two states on the behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president JP Nadda for coming out to vote in large numbers.

The former BJP president said the voter turnout in the first phase has given “shubh sanket” (good indications) that the “BJP is winning the elections with huge numbers”.

Shah added that the fact that no incidence of violence or any other untoward incident reported on the day of polling was another “shubh sanket” that the BJP was “sweeping” the two states.

“Both states have a history of poll violence. No person lost his or her life during the voting, this is a ‘shubh sanket’ for the BJP,” Shah said addressing media persons in Delhi.

Shah claimed that the BJP was winning “26 out of the 30” seats that polled in Bengal and “37 out of 47” constituencies that voted in Assam yesterday.

“We are increasing seats by a large number in Bengal. In Assam, BJP is winning 37 out of 47 seats. Our grassroots workers and election machinery have indicated these figures. The two states have voted for development and the mandate is the verdict in favour of the BJP,” he added.

“In Assam Sarbananda Sonowal (CM) and Himanta Biswa Sarma have succeeded in winning the confidence of people. People have understood the meaning of double-engine government and seen its proof in form of bridges on the Brahmaputra, vast network of roads and other development works,” Shah said.

Slamming TMC supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, he said people had hoped that she would bring a change in the state. “But only the name of the party ruling Bengal changed, rest everything remained the same. Bengal can be ‘sujalam suphalam’, there can be development, there will be change under Narendra Modi, people of Bengal have realised,” he said, also thanking the Election Commission for peaceful polling.

“This has happened for the first time. The peaceful polling is a positive indication that the BJP will win more than 200 seats in Bengal and form the government. In Assam also we will come back with more seats than last time,” he added.

“The momentum of Phase -I will be maintained. I have been saying from the beginning that the BJP is winning 200 seats, from feed-back from the grassroots. The TMC has already lost its ground,” he said, in response to queries regarding the reason and source of his confidence.

Regarding Nandigram, he called it “another seat for BJP”.

At the same time, however, he also appealed to people of Nandigram— where CM Mamata Banerjee is contesting—to “initiate the change".

Shah denied that the Prime Minister’s Bangladesh visit had anything to do with the Bengal elections.

“Did the PM say anything on corruption (in Bengal)? The trip was meant to revive relationship between the two countries,”, he said. Shah also denied allegations that his party had anything to do with the Election Commission changing some processes.

“It was not a secret we had given it in writing to the EC,” he said. The ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal has accused the BJP of trying to change the process of polling agents.

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