Telangana CM Revanth predicts 214-240 seats for NDA in LS polls

Quips saying BJP will have to contest in Pakistan to get 400 seats

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has predicted that NDA will win anywhere between 214 to 240 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections, downplaying BJP’s prediction that it will cross 400 seats this time around.

In an interview with Rajat Sharma on Aap Ki Adaalat on Saturday night, Revanth said that in 2019, when BJP had won 303 seats, it had won 95 per cent of the seats in Delhi, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat combined.

“If they have to win 400 seats this time around, they’ll have to win elections in Pakistan as well,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

He went on to predict that BJP, which had won 27 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2019, will not be able to win more than 12 seats there, and will be restricted to 2 seats in Telangana.

Revanth said that even BRS had dreamt about winning 100 out of 119 seats in Telangana, but was restricted to only 39 seats in the Assembly.

“The general perception is built by politicians and WhatsApp university, on which Modi thrives. People know now; 62 per cent of youth is against Modi. He talked about creating 2 crore jobs every year, but could hardly fill 7.5 lakh government vacancies. Has anyone received Rs 15 lakh in their Jan Dhan accounts? Has the farmers’ income doubled? Has Modi built a house for every household by 2022 as announced by Modi,” Revanth asked.

Pointing out that in 64 years if independent India from 1947 to 2014, all prime ministers combined had borrowed Rs 55 lakh crore, Revanth said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone has borrowed Rs 1.13 lakh crore in just 10 years.

“In whose hands has all these money gone? Is it just my responsibility? Is it not the responsibility of the youth to question,” he asked, to which a Bhakth said that he was going to vote for Modi.

To this, Revanth said that the youngster could feel free to do so, but also made it clear that it would mean another Rs 100 crore debt for his next generation to bear.

On the issue of Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s Bala Rama’s statue pratishthaan( inauguration), he said that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was the one who did ‘Silanyaas’ there, to enable Hindus to perform puja there.

When asked why Congress including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi not participating in the ceremony, Revanth questioned why Modi didn’t come to offer prayers at the Bhadrachalam temple where annually Lord Rama and Sita’s wedding is performed.

“Is Modi the real Ram Bhakt,” Revanth sought to know.

“For how many more days will you take the Ram Mandir slogan? Bhakti is different and one’s responsibility towards his people is different, I’m a practicing Hindu and I’m proud to say I’m a Hindu. I’m not against any religion. It is a personal practice, If you have to run the government, be neutral,” Revanth suggested Modi.

On a question raised by Rajat Sharma if he endorsed Tamil Nadu minister Udayanidhi Stalin’s comment on Sanathana Dharma, Revanth relied saying that just like Modi, DMK was trying to gain political mileage by provoking others. Revanth said that if he meets any of those leaders from DMK, he will certainly make his point that such statements have no place in this country.

“Before every general elections the agenda of BJP will get fixed. This time they tried to use the Ram Mandir issue to the fullest for political gains, but it has derailed because of the illegal arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. Is anyone talking about the Ram Mandir now,” he questioned, asking why Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Naveen Jindal and Ajit Pawar, who were charged under corruption when they were not in BJP, suddenly became ‘Mahatmas’ after joining the saffron party.

“Today they are standing beside Modi and he is saying his party is fighting the elections against corruption. I’m not alleging that Modi is corrupt. But who are these people around him? Andar daalne ka matlab BJP mein daalna hai kya,” Revanth wondered, drawing laughter among the audience again.

Terming Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest as illegal, Revanth questioned why he was not arrested before if the agencies had the evidence, as the investigation has been going on for the past two years, and why this sudden arrest just before the elections.

“The same businessman who has allegedly given money to Kejriwal, has also donated between Rs 400 to 500 crore to BJP through the electoral bonds. In one instance it was black money and in the other it was white money. So, what is the difference,” he asked Modi to explain.

“Out of Rs 22,500 crore total electoral bonds, Rs 6,780 crore has been donated to BJP. Who are these people who have donated? Have they descended from the skies,” he wondered, imploring BJP to accept that it is nothing different than TMC or BRS in the question of corruption.

He also mentioned that Modi’s slogan to pull the corrupt politicians from other parties into BJP was been “ICE and NICE,” which meant that either the corrupt would have to face IT, CBI and ED (ICE), or Narcotics, IT, CBI and ED (NICE).