PM Modi in conversation with NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia
Pitching his government as sensitive to the dreams and aspirations of the millions of Indians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined how the trust shown by voters will help his party, BJP, win a "historic mandate".
The country is in the middle of a marathon general election spread over six weeks, the second biggest since the general election of 1951-52, with three more rounds to go. There are seven phases. The votes will be counted on June 4.
"Sarkaar ke prati bharosa hai aur isiliye main kehta hoon ki is chunaav main BJP historically ek bahut bada record set karne wali hai (There is great trust in this government. It is for this reason I say that the BJP will get a historic mandate and will set a record)," PM Modi said in an interview with NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.
Polling is over in the four southern states, where the BJP, led by the Prime Minister, has made a big push to win over voters. The south remains the BJP's Achilees' heel.
"Aaj desh ko lag raha hai ki aaj ek aisi sarkar hai jis sarkaar ko hamare dukhon ki chinta hai, hamare sapno ka usko andaaz hai aur jo hamare saamarth ko hamesha badhane ka prayaas karti hai (Today the country feels that there is such a government which is concerned about our sorrows, respects our dreams and always tries to show our strength)," PM Modi, 73, told the channel.
The southern states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana - with Puducherry's one seat sends 130 MPs to the Lower House.
In 2019 the BJP scored only 29 of these seats, of which 25 were from Karnataka and the rest from Telangana. The party failed to open its account in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry.
The BJP, which won 303 seats in 2019, has set itself a mammoth target of 370 this time and with help from allies, it aims to go "400 paar". The Congress, depleted by poll losses and big defections, is part of the Opposition bloc INDIA taking on the BJP.
"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, contesting from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, underscored.
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. The BJP won handsomely in the big Hindi heartland states sweeping Rajasthan, Gujarat and won 28 out of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Congress, the principal opposition party, is contesting 17 seats in UP this time. It is in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, which is contesting on 63 seats.
PM Modi, who says the country will become the third largest economy in his third term, spelt out the 'four-S' mantra for the country to achieve big things.
"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.
Tune in today at 8 pm to watch the interview, which will be aired across the NDTV network.