PM Narendra Modi at BJP headquarter in New Delhi after the results of assembly elections were declared today.
Highlights
- PM Modi thanks voters of the five states for 'believing in BJP'
- Meeting party workers in Delhi, he said 'BJP win in Assam surprised many'
- Today's results a stamp of approval of PM Modi's performance: Amit Shah
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today thanked the voters of the five state for "believing in BJP" as the party put up its best performance in assembly elections in a while now, saying that "the polls have made it clear that BJP's ideology is being accepted, appreciated, supported by people of the country".
"BJP forming a government in Assam is as surprising, for many, as BJP being part of the Jammu and Kashmir government," the PM said addressing party workers at party headquarter in Delhi this evening.
People have accepted the BJP in all states, the party's chief Amit Shah said today, declaring that the BJP has laid a "firm foundation for the 2019 national elections".
"It is a matter of great joy for BJP that it has performed well in all five states. People have accepted BJP in all states," Mr Shah said addressing reporters after election results confirmed that the BJP has won Assam.
He called today's election results a "stamp of approval on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's performance over the last two years".
"People who have paralysed Parliament have been shown their place. India has walked two steps closer towards a Congress-mukt Bharat," Mr Shah said about rival Congress, which is the day's biggest loser.
Prime Minister Modi, in a series of tweets this morning, celebrated his party's performance in assembly elections, promising that it will "do everything possible to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of Assam".
For celebrations, usual security restrictions lifted around PM Modi at BJP office.
The PM, who phoned West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa to congratulate them on winning second straight terms today, also tweeted:
After a series of victories in assembly elections that followed PM Modi's sweep of the national election in 2014, the party had drawn a blank last year, losing two crucial elections in Delhi and Bihar. Those were humiliating defeats and the BJP will hope that today's performance means the tide has turned again as the Modi government finishes two years in power at the Centre.
Elections are due early next year in Punjab and in Uttar Pradesh, a must-win mega battle for the BJP. In a change of strategy, the party this time projected a chief minister for Assam in Sarbananda Sonowal, PM Modi's sports minister at the Centre, and the Prime Minister congratulated him for "the performance of the party and efforts through the campaign.