Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections: BJP to win 80% seats, Opposition to share 20%, reiterates Yogi Adityanath

In an exclusive conversation with News18 India’s Managing Editor Amish Devgan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the BJP would come back to power in the state with an absolute majority. Adityanath said that the BJP will win over 300 of the total 403 seats and that the contest will be based on the ‘80 vs 20’ formula. The UP chief minister said, “While BJP will win 80 per cent seats, 20 per cent will be divided between all the Opposition parties.” He added, “The people will choose BJP because it has always worked for them.” He added that the ‘double engine government’ had always prioritised public welfare.

He added that during campaign rallies in UP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the full support of the people. Adityanath said that the poll outcome will be decided by the “poor, women, youth and the farmers.” The seventh and final phase of polling will be held in the state on Monday. 349 seats have gone to the polls so far. Gorakhpur, from where Adityanath is contesting, voted in the sixth phase on Thursday. Adityanath said his government’s aim was to “work for the people of UP and to end dynastic politics and casteism.” The UP chief minister said that he did not feel threatened by the Opposition as people have seen their real faces. He said that the Samajwadi Party does not have sympathy for the poor. Adityanath added, “SP sympathised with terrorists and that several riots happened during the party’s rule.”  Earlier, during a campaign rally in UP’s Hardoi, Modi had said, “During its rule, Samajwadi Party withdrew cases against several terrorists in the state.” The SP, led by former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has emerged as the BJP’s main competitor in the state. Taking a jibe at SP, Adityanath said that the bulldozer was a symbol of development as it was used to build expressways and that only the mafia was afraid of it. Earlier, Yadav had called Adityanath ‘Baba bulldozer’. The jibe was a reference to the government’s action of vacating illegally occupied land using heavy equipment. Adityanath also dismissed that defections to the Samajwadi Party will impact BJP’s poll performance. He added that former ally Om Prakash Rajbhar’s decision to support SP will also not affect the BJP. In the interview, Yogi also lauded the Modi government’s efforts to bring back Indians from Ukraine. He said that he met Indian students who were evacuated from Ukraine. He said that they told him they were able to return only because of Modi. 54 seats spread across nine districts will go to the polls in the seventh phase on Monday. These seats are Varanasi, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Bhadohi. As many as 613 candidates are in the fray. The counting of votes will take place on 10 March. While the BJP has formed an alliance with the Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party, the SP has formed an eight-party coalition that includes RJD and NCP. The Congress and BSP decided to go solo. In 2017, the BJP-led NDA won 312 seats while the SP came a distant second with 47 seats. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.