Amit Shah: PM Modi retaining power for third term a certainty

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's retaining power for a third term in 2024 is a certainty, expressing confidence the ruling BJP will achieve a bigger victory in the Lok Sabha polls than 2019.

"Modi ji becoming prime minister for a third time is a certainty. The writing on the wall is clear," he said in an interview to news channel 'Aaj Tak'.

Shah said the party has chosen its "good workers" as chief ministers in three states and that its ordinary workers are its "tallest" members, replying to a question about the BJP preferring new faces to more known leaders, including former chief ministers, in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

All three leaders were ordinary workers once who were given adequate opportunities by the party, he said in reference to former Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh and Vasundhra Raje respectively.

To a question about Modi's consistently high approval ratings over the years, Shah said people have developed a devotion to the prime minister as they believe it is he who can make the country great and has the roadmap for it.

Modi has done nothing for himself, Shah said, adding that he will go a step further to state that the prime minister did nothing for his party as whatever he (Modi) did was for the country and its poor.

When some hard decisions were taken, even BJP workers said it would hurt their votes. But Modi took those stringent measures keeping in mind the interests of the people, the home minister said.

That is why India is doing well on all fronts, he said.

The BJP is backed by its performance, its "sacred" aims and people's agenda besides the fact that it has a leader matchless not only in India but in the world, Shah said, expressing confidence about its prospects.

Lauding the prime minister's work to strengthen the party and keep its cadres motivated, he noted the BJP has achieved much more success under him than its earlier highs and said he is the only reason for its victory.

He also took a swipe at the opposition INDIA bloc, wondering where it exists and noting the digs of its constituents on one another during the recent assembly polls.

"INDI Alliance is not visible anywhere in the country except news channel screens," he said.

In his remarks, Shah underlined the ruling party's commitment to the Uniform Civil Code and implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He said the Congress discarded the UCC, which was mentioned as one of the directive principles in the Constitution, due to its vote bank politics and the BJP is form on its commitment to it.

The biggest sign of a secular government is that there should be same law for everyone, he said.

Shah also attacked the opposition for allegedly creating a "north-south" divide following the assembly polls in which the BJP swept the elections in three Hindi-speaking states while the Congress came to power in the southern state of Telangana.

Noting that the BJP has been strong in Karnataka, he said the party will get its highest tally in Telangana, where it has four Lok Sabha MPs currently, and improve on its performance in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 2024.

He said, "I condemn people who use elections as a means to divide the northern and southern parts of India. Those who propagate the north-south narrative are the ones seeking to divide India rather than unite it. I don't approve of such political gimmicks." PTI