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Hitting back at senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for questioning the BJP's pitch of 'Ab ki baar 400 paar' (beyond 400 seats this time), going into the Lok Sabha elections, former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Tuesday the Opposition had run out of options other than poking holes in his party's claim.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, the former CM who is in the fray for the Lok Sabha this time, responded to Ramesh's jibe at the BJP over its clarion call, saying, "We may not win 400 seats, as we have quoted, but will surely go up to 389, 399 or even 404 seats in the upcoming general elections." Expanding on the BJP's ongoing preparations for the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections in the country, apart from karyakartas (workers) and leaders across levels, the chief ministers of all BJP-ruled states were actively engaged in the canvassing phase to help the party reach the magic figure of '400'. He added that while the BJP was actively involved in the poll preparations and campaigning, the Opposition was conspicuous by its absence. Earlier in the day, Ramesh mocked the BJP's claim of '400 paar', saying past election results of the ruling party at the Centre failed to come anywhere near to what they had projected. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Ramesh sought to make light of the BJP's target of 400-plus seats for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha elections, a feat achieved only once in the country's electoral history--by the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi in 1984, saying it was easy to set goals and raise slogans. "Ahead of the 2017 Gujarat (assembly) elections, the BJP's slogan was '150 paar' but they only ended up winning 99 seats. Before the 2018 Chhattisgarh elections, they raised a cry for going '50 paar' but could only manage 15. In the 2019 Jharkhand assembly elections, their slogan was '65 paar' but they could only manage 25. In the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, they claimed to go '45 paar' but finished at just 8. In the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, they went into the polls with a slogan of going '118 paar' but could only win 4 seats. It is easy to raise such slogans. However, the reality was a stark contrast," Ramesh said. Significantly, the BJP, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has set itself the task of securing in excess of 370 seats while eyeing 400-plus seats for the NDA. The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in the general elections this time. The counting of the votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)
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