South will help reach Modi target of 370: Gadkari

Nagpur: Avowing abiding confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of 370 seats, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said the additional seats to its current strength of 288 would come from gains in southern India in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In a wide-ranging interview with PTI at his residence in Nagpur, Gadkari said there is "no doubt" in his mind that the BJP-led NDA alliance will cross 400 seats and that Modi will take over as prime minister for a third term because of the solid work done by the government in the last 10 years.

He dismissed allegations that the Modi government is “weaponising” central probe agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and CBI to weaken the opposition, saying BJP's rivals should make efforts to overcome adversity by winning the confidence of the people.

“Is it our responsibility to make the opposition weak or strong? When we had just two MPs and were weak, we never got any package out of sympathy,” Gadkari, who is seeking a third Lok Sabha term from Nagpur, said. Gadkari launched his campaign with a massive road show on Saturday through Nagpur, his motorcade crawling through a sea of supporters who withstood 40 degrees Celsius temperature to welcome the local hero. The programme, which was to take two hours ended four hours later as supporters covered him with gulal and insisted on offering him snacks every time he stopped. Gadkari said the BJP emerged stronger over the years due to the sheer hard work of its workers and the Opposition too has to make efforts to earn the people's confidence. “The nature of democracy is such that this keeps changing.

Whatever role you play, you always have to make efforts and overcome adversity. This is important for any opposition party,” he said. He was also asked to explain the arithmetic of 370 seats for BJP and more than 400 seats for the National Democratic Alliance, given that they have already maxed out in their stronghold states. “There is no need to make a state-wise analysis. This time we will taste success in the South. The work we have done in the south and the northeast over the last 10 years under Prime Minister Modi's leadership… we have started getting results of the same,” he said.

“We have worked hard in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. We had very little presence in these states. This time we will do well in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. We have been performing well in north India. So, I feel the BJP will alone get 370 seats and the NDA will cross 400,” Gadkari said.