Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu speaks to NDTV on the BJP's win
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today told NDTV the BJP's huge victory in the assembly elections reflects the support the people of the border state have for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Khandu, 44, who is also the youngest Chief Minister in the country, told NDTV the Congress is a spent force. "In Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress had been running the government for a very long time. It set up a corrupt system," Mr Khandu told NDTV.
"The then central leaders of the Congress never sanctioned any work without kickbacks. But the BJP gave an alternative way of governance," he said.
He said the huge victories in the assembly elections in the two northeast states is a good sign ahead of the June 4 vote-counting for the national elections. Many exit polls have predicted a landslide win by the BJP.
The BJP's focus on Arunachal has been on infrastructure, roads, and connectivity. These have proven to be the clincher. The Congress's failure in the northeast continues, from winning only four seats in the last election to only one this time in Arunachal.
The BJP, however, set a new record to retain power in Arunachal by winning 46 six of the 60 assembly seats.
After a marathon Lok Sabha elections 2024 - spread over six weeks, the second-longest general election since 1951-52 - a big win for the ruling BJP-led NDA has been predicted by twelve exit polls - India Today- Axis My India (361-401), News 24-Today's Chanakya (400), ABP News-C Voter (353-383), Republic Bharat- P Marq (359), India News- D-Dyanamics (371), Republic Bharat- Matrize (353-368), Dainik Bhaskar (281-350), News Nation (342-378), TV 9 Bharatvarsh- Polstrat (342), Times Now-ETG (358), India TV- CNX (362-392) and Jan Ki Baat (362-392).
The exit polls have also predicted NDA dominance in Karnataka and Maharashtra and Left-led alliance's rout in Kerala. In Bengal, the exit polls predicted a better performance for the BJP than it did the last time (22). Most exit polls have said that the BJP will now be the single-largest party in Bengal in terms of Lok Sabha seats.