Bihar polls: NDA will win on Modi's popularity, says Arun Jaitley

The BJP-led NDA will form the next government with two-thirds majority in Bihar due to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.

"Modi's popularity remains intact and people still have faith in him as reflected in his rallies with large gathering. He is one of the main factor of BJP-led NDA to get two-thirds majority in Bihar assembly polls," Jaitely said at a press conference in the party office here.

He said that besides Modi's popularity, another factor contributing to the victory of the NDA is that people want to vote for the party or alliance which is in power at the Centre for formation of a friendly state government for development.

Third factor is that the grand alliance of the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress is an opportunist alliance with no focus on development.

Jaitley said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has established a clear lead in the third phase of the assembly polls held on Wednesday, like in the first and second phases.

"We hope that BJP-led NDA will establish lead in remaining fourth phase on November 1 and fifth phase on November 5 polls," Jaitley said.