"Hamara palda bahut bhari hai (The scales are tilted in our favour)," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDTV in an exclusive interview, projecting confidence in his ability to secure a third straight term for his party, BJP, in the Lok Sabha elections.
Four rounds are over in the marathon six-week general election, the second biggest since the general election of 1951-52. Three more rounds remain. The votes will be counted on June 4.
"Itna bada desh. Aap jisko (vote) dene jaa rahe ho, jaante ho kya, uska naam pata hai kya, uska anubhav pata hai kya. Toh ye desh ki janta dekhti hai. Koi party apne naam bataaye ya na bataaye woh tolti hai (It is such a big country. Do you know whom you want to give your vote to? Their name, their experience? The nation sees everything. Whether the party names the person or not, the voters assess them)," PM Modi said in an interview with NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.
"Aur hamara palda bahut bhari hai usme mujhe kuch kehne ki jaroorat nahi hai. Hamara palda bhaari hai, har koi jaanta hai (The scales are heavily tilted in our favour. I don't have to say anything about that. We have the upper hand. And everyone knows it)," the Prime Minister, 73, told the channel.
The Congress, attenuated by poll losses and a string of defections, is part of the Opposition bloc INDIA taking on the BJP.
The Prime Minister, who has tasked his ministers to come up with an action plan for the first 100 days of his new government, told NDTV the route to success - stressing on scope, scale, speed and skill.
"The scope should be very big, it shouldn't be in parts, and the second thing is scale, which should also be large. The speed should be in sync with these two. So, scope, scale and speed, and then there should be skill. If we can get these four things together, I believe, we achieve a lot," said the Prime Minister, who is contesting from Varanasi.
The BJP swept the politically prized state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends most number of MPs (80) to Lok Sabha, in 2014 and 2019, winning 71 and 62 seats, respectively.
Congress, the principal opposition party, is contesting 17 seats in the state. It is in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi party, which is contesting on 63 seats.
Rahul Gandhi, 53, is contesting from the family stronghold of Raebareli, a seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi five times. Akhilesh Yadav, too, took the poll plunge and is contesting from Kannauj.
Tune in at 8 pm on Sunday to watch the interview, which will be aired across the NDTV network.
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