‘Mandate would be sought in Modiji’s name’

Keeping his word, Mahendra Nath Pandey spares a few minutes after emerging from a daylong marathon review meeting with BJP national president Amit Shah. 

Would the electoral reversals in the Hindi heartland have any impact on the BJP’s strategy for the Lok Sabha in Uttar Pradesh?

I don’t think it will have any impact whatsoever. It was not a complete rout for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It was quite a neck-and-neck fight. In MP, the BJP vote share is more than the Congress. On 14 seats, the BJP has lost by a wafer-thin margin of less than 1,500 votes.

The BSP and the SP had stayed away from the 21-party opposition meeting. Do you think the results will change the situation now?

This is for them to answer. All I can say is that the BJP is a formidable force to reckon with in both UP and Delhi. We may have not been able to adequately communicate our work to the people causing these reverses, but this will have no bearing on the future political scenario.

Will the Assembly election results change the BJP’s strategy for the Lok Sabha elections?

The Lok Saba elections would be fought around Prime Minister Modi’s personality. The mandate would be sought in his name. His popularity and mass appeal is very much intact. I see no reason to worry.

UP CM Yogi Aditynath was the star campaigner during this election. Would the BJP reconsider its strategy to use him so extensively after the electoral reverses?

The results may not have been on expected lines, but that does not mean that Yogiji’s appeal has diminished. He is very popular and I see no reason why the party should not use his services to the fullest extent possible. — SN