Home Minister Amit Shah, who conducted a roadshow in Bengal's Medinipur on Tuesday, in an exclusive conversation with India TV said that there is a wave of change in Bengal adding with full confidence that his party will form the next government with a thumping majority.
Responding to whether BJP will be able to win over 200 seats in Bengal elections, Amit Shah said, "Pakka 200 Paar... (BJP will win over 200 seats and form the next government in Bengal)".
Responding to who will be BJP's chief ministerial candidate, Amit Shah said that BJP's chief minister in the state will be the son from the land of Bengal.
Meanwhile, speaking on other issues, Amit Shah said Congress' tie-up with the AIUDF will be a factor in the BJP-led alliance's win in the Assam assembly polls as voters will back the saffron party decisively because its main rival cannot stop the influx of illegal immigrants by joining hands with Badruddin Ajmal, accused by the ruling bloc of protecting infiltrators.
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In an interview to PTI, the senior BJP leader also predicted a thumping win for his party in West Bengal, asserting that people there are yearning for a change from the Trinamool Congress' "misrule" and will embrace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the state's development.
BJP strengthened its position in Bengal after 2019 Lok Sabha polls, says Amit Shah
Asked about the ground for his confidence about the BJP's big victory in the elections to 294-member West Bengal assembly, Shah said the party has only strengthened its position since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls while the TMC's support base has eroded with a large number of its leaders quitting the organisation. Most of them have joined the BJP.
"We won 18 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 42 in 2019 and lost three by small margins. That too when people had doubts about our victory.
Now they have confidence that we can win. People are yearning for a change and are with us," he said.
Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee may not want to see Modi and it is her choice, but people of West Bengal have been displaying their affection for him by coming out in huge numbers to see him, he said, referring to large turnouts in the prime minister's rallies.
Asked about Banerjee's charge of religious polarisation against the BJP, Shah said if raising the issues of people amounts to religious polarisation then this is a "new definition" he has heard. When her government obstructed Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja processions, was it not polarisation, he asked.
"We are making a positive statement that everyone should observe their festivals. We have no objection if someone is observing Ramzan or Christmas. But you cannot impose restrictions on Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja," he said.
Asked about some incidents of the show of disaffection by party workers over the choice of candidates, he said the BJP will win them over and asserted that this will have no impact on its poll prospects. The BJP is a disciplined and cadre-based party, he said, asserting that people are behind the party.
The saffron party has been running a high-pitched campaign in the state, seeking to end Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's 10-year-old rule, charging her with running a dispensation tainted with corruption and crime.
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