'Anga, Banga, Kalinga': Amit Shah predicts BJP win in Bengal phase 1 elections

Kolkata: Claiming that voters have "broken all records" in favour of "Parivartan" in West Bengal, Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the BJP is poised to win at least 110 of the 152 seats that went to polls in the first phase of the assembly elections on April 23.

"Anga, Banga and Kalinga" - the ancient kingdoms that ruled present-day eastern India - will have BJP governments next month. He congratulated the Election Commission of India, central forces personnel, state government officials, election machinery, and state police for conducting "violence-free" and "death-free" polls. "The entire credit goes to ECI that, after so many years, there was no death in an election in Bengal," Shah said. He also lauded voters for turning out in large numbers, calling it positive for the "welfare of the state", and said there has been a shift from "bhay" (fear) to "Bhorsha" (trust). "I convey my congratulations to the voters in the first phase. The voters in the second phase will take this journey forward," the Union home minister said. "After a night-long analysis, we believe we will win at least 110 assembly constituencies, if not more. We will form the new government with a clear majority," Shah told media persons.

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He also hinted at the likely chief minister in a BJP-led government in Bengal. "I assure you that the new CM will be a son of the soil - a Bengali-speaking leader who has pursued his education in the Bengali medium. A true Bengali will be the next chief minister of West Bengal," Shah said.


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Shah stressed that development must be balanced across the country, adding that eastern and northeastern India should progress at the same pace as western India. "The BJP does not form governments anywhere - the people choose their government. This time, I can see a tsunami in West Bengal," he said, invoking the idea of "Purvoday" and asserting that the pace of development would accelerate. He further said that criminalisation of politics and "syndicate raj" would end once the BJP comes to power. "Parivartan does not merely mean bringing the BJP to power, it means eliminating infiltration from Bengal and ending appeasement politics," Shah added.