Maharashtra poll results will prove pundits wrong, says PM Narendra Modi

NAGPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said political pundits will be proved wrong once again as BJP will win a majority in Maharashtra Assembly election despite predictions of a hung House.

"If political pundits are proved wrong again, I will be sad. Before Lok Sabha polls, pundits said BJP will get 120 seats, that Modi is new and nobody knows him outside Gujarat.

"But BJP alone got 282 and, with allies, crossed the 300-mark. All pundits were proved wrong. Their calculations failed as they used the old yardstick," Modi said, addressing a poll rally at Kasturchand Park here this evening.

"Even this time, pundits are saying there will be hung Assembly. I want to tell them, if you have time, just look at the massive crowds at my rallies in Maharashtra and people's enthusiasm," he said, adding, "This will be an unprecedented election in history of Maharashtra and BJP will win full majority."

Modi said Congress gave the people a "Maharashtra of scams" while BJP will give them a "Maharashtra of skills" where skill development will ensure job to the youth.

He said the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (Mihan) project was stalled due to Congress but the BJP government will give impetus to it. There should be no politics on the issue of development, he said.

"I want the spirit of Team India to define Centre-State relations. Prime Minister and Chief Ministers should work as a team and the voices from the states are heard....I want the journey of development to be like that," he said.

"If a non-BJP state government stands with the Centre, then it is one plus one, that is two. But if another BJP state government is there, the total will be one plus one, that is eleven," he said.

The Prime Minister said his government was aiming at housing for all by 2022.

Modi lauded the work done by state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis, describing him as an active 'jan sevak' (servant of the people), who exposed various scams of Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra. He also appreciated unearthing of the coal scam by Vidarbha MP Hansraj Ahir.

Fadnavis is one of the contenders for the Chief Minister's post if BJP is voted to power.