BJP will welcome support of any party in national interest: Amit Shah

Asked about BJP's strategy in improving its tally of seats in UP, he said the state was divided in 30 blocks, with each block having a few seats and a different strategy was adopted for each of them.

Modi's close aide, who was sent specially by the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate to work in Uttar Pradesh, said he had to work a lot to tone up the party's organisational structure and hoped the party would emerge victorious in 50 to 55 seats.

He hoped BJP would make major gains in western and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP leader claimed Bahujan Samaj Party, which has been decimated by many exit polls, will emerge as the second player in the current Lok Sabha polls.

As exit polls projected regional parties in power in some states to face a drubbing in Lok Sabha elections, Shah said these parties will lose their authority to rule once the mandate goes against them.

"When they do not get a mandate from the people, they lose the moral authority to rule," he said, in an apparent reference to Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

On Punjab, where ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in alliance with BJP is facing anti-incumbency, the BJP leader said the earlier exit polls about the state have been proved wrong and hoped the same this time too.

Asked about the support received by BJP from RSS volunteers in this Lok Sabha elections, Shah said "not just Sangh, a number of nationalist organisations openly supported BJP and the party will largely benefit from that."

While predicting more than 35 seats for BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra, he hoped a good number for BJP in Bihar as well and said the party's vote share in West Bengal is likely to see a major increase but could not confirm if it will translate in seats there.

Asked about Varanasi's development if Modi wins from there and retains the seat, he said the area and the state will see major development. He said the river Ganges was already declared a national river and the central government can bring about a lot of development even though the state is ruled by Samajwadi Party.