Narendra Modi addresses an election rally in Motihari on Friday.
The BJP is voicing growing confidence of a decisive victory in the election even as regional powerhouses like
Mayawati and
Mamata Banerjee ruled out joining a government headed by the party's prime ministerial candidate,
Narendra Modi."We don't have to wait until May 16 as the people have already decided. Good days are ahead." Mr Modi, 63, said at a rally in Uttar Pradesh today, which hosts part of the final round of voting on Monday.
The BJP is widely expected to win the most seats when the results are announced in a week, but opinion polls differ on whether it will gain a majority on its own in the 543-seat parliament.
Although the ruling Congress party is expected to be ousted after a decade in power, Mr Modi's hopes of becoming premier could still be thwarted if leaders of powerful regional parties refuse to do business with him.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, told reporters on Friday that she would not countenance any deal with Modi. "I want to make it clear that BSP will not extend any kind of support to NDA at any cost," said Mayawati, whose party currently has 21 MPs. (
BSP Will Not Support a Narendra Modi-Led Government: Mayawati)
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, another party that has been talked about as a BJP partner, also kept up its recent cold war against Mr Modi by saying the "doors are shut" towards a government led by him. (
After Calling Narendra Modi a 'Donkey', Mamata Banerjee Now Calls Him 'Danga Babu')
Mr Modi, who is serving his fourth term as chief minister of Gujarat, is popular among business leaders and middle-class voters who are especially frustrated by the economic slowdown and a retinue of corruption scandals that took place on the watch of the Congress-led government.
His opponents have been urging voters to reject him, tagging him as a polarizing figure feared by Muslims on account of the communal riots that took place in Gujarat in 2002 soon after he came to power. A Supreme Court inquiry has said there is no evidence of his complicity in the violence, as alleged by some detractors and human rights activists.