UP elections 2017: State's 'Achhe Din' will begin on March 11, says BJP chief Amit Shah

Varanasi: A day ahead of the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah on Friday claimed his party has “won” a majority in the previous phases and the state’s ‘achhe din’ will begin from March 11, the day of counting of votes.

He also blamed Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for letting absconding minister and rape-accused Gayatri Prajapati letting go scot-free, calling it a worst example of poor law and order. Asked if the results will be seen as people’s response to the PM Narendra Modi government’s work, he said they would put their stamp of approval on its two-and-a-half-year tenure in these elections.

“The BJP has already won a majority of seats in the state assembly in the first five phases of the polls. In the next two, people will push our tally to two-thirds mark. I can say with confidence that we will get two-thirds seats,” he said.

Mr Shah rejected the suggestion of an intensive campaign by Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi and neighbouring places and the fact that the top party brass has been camping here for days were a sign of nervousness in the saffron camp.

Wherever elections have taken place in the earlier phases, the party and its leaders have focused on campaigning and it is natural that they are in Varanasi now as it goes to the polls in the last phase, he said.

The state is seeing a similar wave in the BJP’s support that was witnessed during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 when it won 71 of the 80 seats, he claimed. Responding to Mr Yadav’s barb at the BJP over its ‘achhe din’ (good days) claim for the country, he said, “The ‘achhe din’ of Uttar Pradesh will begin from 1 P M on March 11 when the counting of votes will occur and the BJP will emerge victorious.”