BJP has support of 80% of UP voters, will secure 300 seats: Adityanath

Exuding confidence that his party will win the Assembly polls Uttar Pradesh by getting over 300 seats, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that it was an 80:20 fight in the state, the 80 per cent being the people who are happy with the government’s initiatives and 20 per cent being those who oppose everything.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with the blessing of the people, the double-engine government is coming back for the tenure. Elections have taken an 80 versus 20 direction. Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress are upset and are on the back foot after the first phase,” Adityanath said in an interview to ANI.

The UP chief minister’s exclusive interview comes on the day 55 assembly constituencies of the state go to polls in the second phase of voting.

Also read: Polling begins for Phase 2 of UP election, 586 candidates in fray

Responding to Akilesh Yadav’s jibe that the BJP has cooled down after the first phase of the UP elections, Adityanath said, “The public’s response has been cold towards Samajwadi Party in the first phase of the election. People are warm towards the BJP and the party is going to the public with issues, our work is solid and our intentions are honest.”

He claimed that a whopping 80 per cent of the voters comprising those who appreciate the development work of the government support the saffron party.

“80 per cent are those people who are happy with the state government’s agenda of security, who appreciate the public welfare schemes of the state government. Those who like development. Those who got a chance to get their work (at government offices) done in an honest and transparent way,” he said.

“Twenty per cent are those people who always oppose everything. They opposed everything before and will continue doing so now. They have negative thinking. They back money and crime and will remain so. This is how this election is that of 80 versus 20,” he said adding that those in the 20 per cent have been critical of all government programmes including the vaccination drive, Ann Yojana, Expressways and One District One Medical College plan among others.

Adityanath said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who changed the agenda of politics in India and replaced the “politics of caste, creed, and dynasty” with the politics of development, good governance, and betterment of villages, poor farmers, youth and women.

Also read: In UP, BJP hopes lie in splintering of Dalit and Muslim votes

“It is because of Prime Minister Modi’s vision that development work has happened in Uttar Pradesh and our manifesto for the polls reflects our resolution. It shows the BJP’s dedication to the public. The party has released its manifesto based on development, respect for faith and welfare of the poor. We have done it before, and are doing it now,” he told ANI.

The BJP in its manifesto for UP titled Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra has promised free electricity to farmers for irrigation, jobs for at least one member in a family and 10 years of jail and ₹1 lakh fine for offenders of ‘love jihad’ apart from a slew of freebies.