BJP says it won’t need allies, expects 300-plus

IANS/New DelhiA day after several exit polls predicted a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in India, with only the margins of victory differing, party leaders said yesterday they were confident of an easy win, perhaps crossing the 300 mark, and would not need allies.Party leaders and those close to the leadership said neither the BJP nor its prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi was discussing government formation for now. But there was talk in the party about who would fill important ministerial posts or what the government’s policy priorities would be. “Right now there is no talk on government formation. Our priority is on the 16th (Friday). We are focusing on the counting (of votes),” BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. “Once the results come in, the party will decide what should be the next course of action towards government formation,” he said. On Monday evening, soon after the staggered Lok Sabha election finally ended, exit polls universally predicted that the BJP-led national Democratic Alliance would end a decade of Congress rule. The polls - at least six of them - said the BJP and its allies would win 272 or more seats in the Lok Sabha to form a government. “The exit polls largely reflect the reality on ground though we feel we will get more seats than what is being predicted,” said another BJP leader Prakash Javadekar. Other leaders said internal assessments showed the NDA would get 290 to 305 seats, and they would not need allies. “We will not need any allies but anyone who wants to join us for national development is welcome,” a senior BJP leader said. The party is looking for a major jump in Uttar Pradesh, expecting over 50 of the 80 seats. The BJP presently has 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state. In Maharashtra, the party is expecting up to 35 seats for the NDA. The BJP presently has nine of the state’s 48 seats and its ally Shiv Sena 12. Some party sources, however, confided that preparations for forming the government had started, including a succession plan for Gujarat. According to these sources, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari met party veteran L K Advani. Gadkari met Modi on Monday. The sources added that party president Rajnath Singh also met senior leader Sushma Swaraj. Speculation over ministerial berths is on and party members say they expect Arun Jaitley to get the finance ministry while Swaraj may get external affairs. While Rajnath Singh has said he would continue in his post, there is a feeling he should get a key ministry as well. Political analyst G V L Narasimha Rao, now with the BJP, feels the party will win 253 seats on its own and the NDA 303 seats. Modi, who led an aggressive campaign for the BJP after being named the prime ministerial candidate last year, is now in Gujarat, whose government he still heads.