'Was concerned about low voter turnout myself, until ...': Amit Shah

NDA is on its way to 400 paar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will form the government with a good majority, says Amit Shah.

Union home minister Amit Shah said that his concerns over low voter turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections were allayed when he saw the ground situation in the third phase of polling in his own constituency of Gandhinagar.

“I was concerned as well before my own date of polling in the third phase. But on that day (during polling in Gujarat's Gandhinagar) I was among the BJP workers and voters, and I was assured that not only will my lead sustain, but it will also go up. It was clear that our voters had turned up and Congress voters, anticipating defeat, had stayed away,” he told The Hindu.

The voter turnout in the first three phases of general election was lower compared to 2019, prompting a debate about its possible impact on the prospects of BJP which is eyeing a record third term in power. The BJP, however, has dismissed these concerns and said that NDA will win a record 400 seats in Lok Sabha in 2024.

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During the interview, the home minister reiterated this and said that there is no doubt that the NDA is on its way to “400 paar and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will form the government with a good majority”.

Shah also expressed confidence that the BJP will also emerge as the single largest party in the southern states.

Arvind Kejriwal’s release

Shah said that Supreme Court's interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is "not a victory”.

"I do not want to comment on the Supreme Court’s decisions, but to interpret this as a “victory” is wrong. The charges against him have not been quashed. All he has been granted is interim bail, and conditions for that include not doing any official work related to being Chief Minister. How is that a victory? This will have no effect on the polls as, wherever he goes, it will strike [up] talk on the liquor policy scam,” he said.

On Kejriwal saying PM Modi will demit office after turning 75, Shah said the Delhi CM should “instead worry about designating his replacement as the period of interim bail will be up on June 2”.

Shah also denied the opposition allegations that the “400 paar” slogan indicates that a brute majority will be used to end reservations. “The Opposition has been spreading this canard. They did this even during the Bihar polls [of 2015]. We have clarified it strongly that till there is even one BJP MP, reservations for SCs (Scheduled Castes)/STs (Scheduled Tribes) will not be touched. My party is not the one with a history of misusing a majority,” he said.

J&K election turnout

Shah said the higher rates of polling in the Kashmir Valley was a win over those who had apprehended alienation from India in Kashmir following the dilution of Article 370 in 2019.

Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency recorded 38 per cent polling in the 4th phase of the general elections on May 13. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls are the first set of election after the removal of Article 370.

Electoral bonds

On BJP being the “biggest beneficiary” of donations from electoral bonds, the Union home minister said one needs to view this with a “sense of proportion”. “The BJP got Rs 6,060 crore with governments in 13 States and 383 MPs. The rest of the money went to Opposition parties, around Rs 6,450 crore. Parties like the TMC (Trinamool Congress), with a government in one State and 35 MPs, got Rs 1,609 crore. If the BJP got money in the ratio that these parties got per capita on legislators, then we should have got, just as in the case of TMC, Rs 20,000 crore,” Shah told The Hindu.

Talk on Hindu-Muslim issues

Shah also denied the allegation that BJP leaders no longer speak of development but of mangalsutra and Hindu-Muslim issues. “We speak of development in every speech that we make on the campaign trail. But when someone speaks of bringing in Muslim reservations, of giving up claim on POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir), or on bringing in personal law, we have to speak up and counter. These issues are as important for the country — as much as development. How is this communal?” said Shah.