New Delhi:

Amit Shah predicts the BJP’s “best ever performance” in four southern states this election, telling NDTV Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Support in Larnaca, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has reached critical thresholds, which he expects will translate into votes.

“This time, from the south, I feel it will be our best performance ever. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana…and Karnataka … In these states, we will do well. This is the first time that we will do well in the south. “In South India, Prime Minister Modi’s popularity is growing so that we can get votes and seats.” “

He pointed to the increase in vote share between 2014 and 2019 as another sign that the BJP’s influence in South Indian regions that have traditionally rejected the party should now lead to seat gains.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP received 5.5% of the vote in Tamil Nadu. In 2019 the ratio dropped to less than 3.7. In neighboring Kerala, the party received just over 10% of the vote in 2014, rising to 12.93% five years later. However, the party failed to win seats in both states.

The BJP has historically struggled the most in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Yet the party has devoted significant resources, including Mr. Modi’s time, to campaigning in those states.

Mr Modi has made more than a dozen visits between Tamil Nadu and Kerala in recent weeks.

The comments came as all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu went to polls in the first phase of elections today.

Twenty seats in Kerala will go to polls in the second phase on April 26, while 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh will go to polls in the fourth phase on May 13. The BJP in Telangana made huge gains in last year’s assembly elections, from one seat in 2018 to eight seats this year. By then, 17 constituencies will also vote on May 13.

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Karnataka, the only state in the south where the BJP has a strong presence, goes to polls in the second and third phases, i.e. April 26 and May 7. The BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in the last election.

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The BJP believes that the southern states are crucial to achieving its ambitious goal – the party has more than 370 Lok Sabha seats on its own and more than 400 with its NDA allies. Southern states, including the lone seat of Puducherry, sent 130 members to the Lok Sabha and the party won only 29 of them.

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The BJP must perform significantly better if it is to achieve its target of “abki baar, 400 paar”, especially since the Congress-led opposition Bloc India is widely expected to sweep across Tamil Nadu and Kerala state, while the non-aligned YSR Congress party is seen as having the upper hand in Andhra Pradesh.

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