Tsunami-like wave for BJP in UP, NDA to win 75-80 seats: Sunil Bharala

Upbeat about BJP's "tsunami-like wave" in Uttar Pradesh due to schemes like PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala and Ayushman Bharat, party leader Sunil Bharala has predicted the NDA will win 75 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of BJP's Lok Sabha campaign here, Bharala said the slogan of 'abki baar, 400 paar' given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not merely a slogan, but a resolution.

"It's a complete wave like a tsunami (for BJP) in Uttar Pradesh and we (NDA) are going to get 75 out of the 80 seats in the state," he said.

In the 2019 parliamentary polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 62 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had bagged two constituencies.

In 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats while Apna Dal (Sonelal) had secured victory in two constituencies.

"Through the PM Awas Yojana, we have provided homes to 80 lakh people in the state and you can't even imagine how popular the schemes of Ujjwala gas, toilets, Ayushman Bharat and Lakhpati Didi are," Bharala told PTI.

On the BJP's performance in Allahabad and Phulpur constituencies in the sixth phase polling on May 25, the party leader said, "We are going to break our records of 2014 and 2019".

Both constituencies -- Allahabad and Phulpur -- are part of the Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has fielded Neeraj Tripathi from Allahabad and Praveen Patel from Phulpur.

BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Shyama Charan Gupta won from Allahabad in 2019 and 2014 polls, respectively. In Phulpur, BJP's Keshari Dev Patel and Keshav Prasad Maurya won the polls in 2019 and 2014, respectively.

The Phulpur seat was briefly held by Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Dev Patel who won the bypoll in 2018.

Slamming the INDIA bloc, Bharala said claimed that the more the opposition tries to tarnish Modi's image, the stronger will be the performance of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

"The INDI alliance is fighting the election out of arrogance. It is immensely arrogant and the way they talk about the prime minister, the language that its members use for him is not being accepted by the public. The more they try to tarnish the image of the prime minister, the stronger will be the performance of 'lotus' (BJP symbol)," he said.

"I also want to tell the INDI alliance that till the time the BJP president (J P Nadda) and PM Modi are there, they will not allow reservation based on caste or religion. They will sacrifice their lives but will not allow such reservation on the basis of religion," he added.

On the opposition raising growing inflation, unemployment and communal disharmony as the key issues in this election, Bharala said the prime minister himself has said in interviews to the media that he is not making a scheme for 100 days but is laying out a plan for 125 days.

"Of these, he has allocated 25 days to the youth, for their future, for their employment and to make them self-reliant, to make them capable of giving jobs to others instead of seeking one. Prime Minister Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are both resolved to making the youth in Uttar Pradesh self-reliant," he added.