Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained confident about the BJP’s electoral odds during an address in Parliament on Monday. The senior BJP leader said that many Opposition politicians had lost the courage to contest elections — preferring to change seats or vie for Rajya Sabha candidature. Modi also took a swipe at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi for ‘launching the same product again and again’.
“I see that many of you (Opposition) have even lost the courage to contest elections. Some seats were changed last time too, I have heard that many people are looking to change their seats this time as well. I have also heard that many people now want to go to Rajya Sabha instead of Lok Sabha. They are looking for their paths by assessing the situation,” the PM said.
Modi held the Congress responsible for the current state of the Opposition and said that it had failed in its role.
“Ek hi product baar-baar launch karne ke chakkar mein, Congress ki dukaan tala lagne ki naubat aa gayi hai…Congress had a good opportunity to play a good opposition, but failed in that role. There are other young people in the opposition, but they were not allowed to speak out of fear that it may overshadow a particular person,” ” he told Parliament during debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address.
India was now convinced, he opined, that these politicians had “resolved to sit for a long time in the opposition”. The PM also expressed confidence that the opposition strength would be depleted after the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year.
“The third term of our government is not very far now. Only 100-125 days remain to go…I don’t go into numbers but I can see the mood of the country. It will make the NDA cross 400 and BJP will definitely get 370 seats…The third term will be about taking very big decisions…” he assured.
