BackBJP will win four states, form government in Punjab with partners: Shah
Shah said there has been a substantial improvement in UP’s law and order with the rise of BJP there
PremiumNEW DELHI : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gets votes from all sections of society because of issue-based support and the welfare policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Union minister for home and senior BJP leader Amit Shah.
A former president of BJP, Shah said the party’s policies and the government’s concerted efforts to ensure benefits reach those who have been socially and economically marginalized override considerations of caste and faith, even in states such as in Uttar Pradesh where caste preferences dictate electoral choices.
“If you analyse the outcome of the 2019 elections, you will see that had there been a caste-based election, and if the Yadavs, Dalits, and Muslims had come together in Uttar Pradesh, what chances would BJP have had? I have said this before; elections are not like physics, where a plus b equals c. In elections, when a and b come together it leads to the formation of third entity. It is chemistry," he said in an interview to Hindustan Times.
Shah’s comment comes against the backdrop of reports that BJP’s social engineering model, based on the coalescence of diverse Hindu castes in an electoral alliance, has come under strain in Uttar Pradesh.
Credited with scripting BJP’s success in Uttar Pradesh in 2014, 2017, and 2019 elections, Shah asserted that with the rise of the party in the state, there has been a substantial improvement in the state’s law and order and in the overall administration of India’s most populous state.
“When I went to Uttar Pradesh in 2013, there were two problems that stood out when I analysed the politics of the state — the complete criminalization of politics and the complete politicization of the administration. Today, the state is free from both. There is no politicization of the administration and no criminalization of politics, and this is very good for the state, for us, and for democracy in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
Confident of retaining power in four states—Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand —and BJP’s alliance forming the government in Punjab, Shah said the party is poised to accelerate its expansion in Punjab where its reach was limited to the urban areas while in partnership with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). BJP and SAD parted ways following the passage of the now-repealed farm laws in 2020.
Shah said the government has been able to give a good record of its performance on strengthening India’s internal security. Violence in Naxal-affected areas, insurgency in the North-East, and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir have shown a decline, he said.
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