BJP targets 272 seats in Lok Sabha, NDA partnership to continue
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 20:53
BJP targets 272 seats in Lok Sabha, NDA partnership to continue.
BHOPAL: Projecting Narendra Modi as the PM-in-waiting, BJP set an ambitious target of 272-plus seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to form a government on its own at the Centre. At the inaugural session of the Madhya Pradesh BJP state executive in Bhopal, party leaders delivered a clear message that it's looking much beyond a target of 180-200 seats in the Lok Sabha. The goal this time was to get a majority government led by Modi.
"We can, we shall and we must get the maximum number of seats," BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar said. "Congress is already defeated and has turned irrelevant in today's political context. The challenge before us is to do what Janata Party did in 1977. Get 286 seats and get a clear majority," he said.
Not just Ananth Kumar, BJP state president Narendra Singh Tomar geared up the state leadership for the ultimate challenge. "So far we contested Lok Sabha elections as part of the NDA alliance. But this time it is a different situation.
Our leaders too have dreamt of a BJP government so that all hindrances and challenges faced by our party can be addressed to build the nation we want to," said Tomar, setting the target for the state BJP to win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP. To achieve majority in Lok Sabha would not be easy. Hence, the party claims it will fight for every seat in every state. And in BJP-ruled states, the target set is 100% victory.
"In Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, we can get all seats if we work hard enough. In Karnataka, we may have lost the assembly polls but will sweep the Lok Sabha elections along with Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and even Kerala and Andhra Pradesh," Ananth Kumar said.
TOI asked BJP office-bearers and senior Rajya Sabha MP Raghunandan Sharma if the party will contest as part of the NDA alliance. Sharma said: "No. We have no plans to move away from our alliance partners. They will stay with us even when BJP gets a clear majority."
The party calculated there is only 60 days to prepare for polls. Madhya Pradesh leaders were cautioned that the code of conduct may be imposed any time after February 15 and filing of nominations could be in March or early April. The country will go for the general elections in the second half of April or early May.
BJP will tread Janata Party's strategy of 1977 when workers went from house to house seeking for "a vote and a note". BJP workers will ask voters to contribute towards building the Modi government at the Centre. Citizens will be asked to contribute with a note which could be of a denomination between Rs 10 and Rs 1000.
Briefing state BJP leaders to step out into the field immediately, Ananth Kumar put Modi on the same pedestal as Atal Behari Vajpayee. "We had a phrase to describe Vajpayee. He was a leader who was tried, tested and trusted. The same can be said about Narendra Modi. For 12 years, Gujarat has seen him work for development and governance of the state. And the whole nation watched him too.
The need of the hour is a majority government at the Centre. This is a huge country with a population of 121 crore citizens. Such a country needs a party in majority to rule for its progress and well-being," he said.
source:timesofindia