New Delhi: The BJP registering a historic win in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the results "give a glimpse" of the outcome of the general elections of 2024 -- predicting a third straight term in power for the BJP at the Centre.
"Many people had said that the fate of the 2019 general election was decided when the 2017 UP election result was declared," PM Modi said, addressing the BJP workers at the party headquarters in New Delhi this evening.
"All I can say is that the same thought applies now too... the 2024 general election result can be glimpsed in the result of the 2022 UP election," he added.
The BJP has set a record of sorts being the first party in nearly 40 years to get a second straight term. It was a first also in hill state Uttarakhand, which, since inception, has never re-elected a ruling government.
It was the party's chief strategist Amit Shah, who had drummed in the need for a victory in Uttar Pradesh months ago, saying "A win in UP will influence the 2024 elections". The BJP has done more than just win -- it has also increased its vote share from the 39.7 per cent of 2017 to 45 per cent.
The party's performance will also give it a boost in the coming Rajya Sabha polls on March 31 and thereby, the Presidential elections due later this year.
Pointing to the spectacular victory in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi also said this election has proved once again that there is no truth to the allegations of caste based politics in Uttar Pradesh.
"People keep insulting Uttar Pradesh by saying that in UP, only 'jaatiwaad ki rajneeti (politics of caste)' works," PM Modi said.
"But since 2014, in 2014, 2017, 2019 and now 2022, the people have shown again and again that they vote only for vikaswaad ki rajneeti (Politics of progress and development). What more proof do these naysayers want - that UP votes for progress, not for caste," he said.
Of UP's 403 seats, the BJP is on way to win 270-plus seats -- 48 below its 2017 score of 320-plus seats.
The party is also set to win Manipur with leads in 32 of the 60 seats and is cruising to a comfortable victory in Uttarakhand with 48 of 70 seats. In Goa, the BJP has touched the halfway mark of 20 seats and declared that it will form government in the coastal state with the support of three Independents.