AAP leaders are propagandists; Maliwal’s case exposed Kejriwal's true face, says Nadda

The BJP will achieve “90% of its targets” in Karnataka and Maharashtra, says JP Nadda.

BJP president JP Nadda said the AAP leaders are “urban Naxals in disguise” and their style of functioning is to create disorder in society.

In an interview with Times of India, Nadda said Swati Maliwal’s case has exposed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "true face" .  The AAP MP has alleged that she was assaulted by Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar when she had gone to meet the CM at his house.

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“Maliwal is Kejriwal’s party MP, the incident happened in his house, and they released the video, his party MP made the allegations and lodged an FIR and they have to call her a BJP agent. AAP leaders are propagandists, who believe in Goebbels’ principles,” Nadda told TOI.

Nadda said, as per estimates, the BJP had already crossed the majority mark after five phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha election.  “After seven phases, our party is poised to cross 370 seats and NDA will cross 400. The mood across the country is very positive for the BJP-led alliance. Voters trust Narendra Modi and they are voting for BJP to make him PM again. There is no ambiguity among them, which makes us confident of winning with a bigger margin,” said Nadda.

According to the BJP chief, “Modi ji’s leadership has been the key factor”. “There is a general feeling across the country that PM Modi has brought about a paradigm change across the social spectrum, including the political culture of the country...There is unflinching trust in PM Modi’s leadership among diverse sections…Before 2014, there was indifference towards governance and political leadership of the country. PM Modi changed that,” said Nadda.

Expressing confidence that the NDA will win 400 seats, Nadda denied that the BJP struggle for a foothold in Tamil Nadu and Kerala continues. “We may not win too many seats, but BJP’s vote is set to increase significantly. PM Modi’s popularity was seen in both states but translating that popularity into electoral wins takes time as you need a strong local organisation and winnable candidates. However, we are going to break the myth about TN and Kerala being alien territory for us and our footprint there is only going to expand,” he said.

The BJP president also denied claims that despite the construction of Ram temple, the party’s position in Uttar Pradesh is challenged. “Ram temple is an issue of faith for us and not a political issue, we have maintained it for years and still feel so. If you remember, the alliance of the two caste-based parties (SP and BSP) in 2019 was said to be formidable and it was believed BJP won’t repeat its success of 2014. However, political pundits were proven wrong, and BJP won 62 seats and the alliance’s tally was 64. Again, there has been an attempt to set the poll narrative on caste and communal lines. However, the groundswell is so different from the reports you are talking about. There is a one-way wave in favour of BJP,” he said.

According to Nadda, the BJP will also achieve “90% of its targets” in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Speaking about Rajasthan, he said there are “tough contests in a few seats” but  he does not  see “significant damage happening there”.

He said West Bengal is one state where the party’s performance is improving. “Look at the way Mamata Banerjee is behaving. She is set to be wiped out. I won’t be surprised if BJP wins 18 seats in Odisha. We are headed for double-digit figures in Telangana and doing well in Andhra Pradesh with our allies. North-east and north India will be intact,” Nadda told TOI.