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The BJP is set to win most Lok Sabha seats in eastern and southern India this time, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has told NDTV in an exclusive interview. Mr Shah was speaking to NDTV’s editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia on the campaign trail ahead of the last phase of the general election, scheduled to be held this Saturday.

Asked what are his expectations for Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Mr Shah replied, “We will take a significant lead in Bengal too. We may win between 24 and 30 seats (out of 42). In Odisha, our target is 17 Lok Sabha seats (out of 21) and 75 Assembly seats (out of 147). In Telangana, we will win around 10 seats (out of 17). As for Andhra Pradesh, our alliance government is going to form the government and NDA is will win a big chunk of Lok Sabha seats too.”

Already the dominant force in the North and West, the BJP is pushing hard this time to expand its footprint in the East and South, where several states are ruled by the Opposition parties. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are also voting in the Assembly polls alongside the general election. In Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government is seeking another term. As for Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has tied up with the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party to give a tough fight to the ruling YSR Congress.

“In the eastern zone, comprising Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, we will emerge as the biggest party. This is certain. And in the five states of the South, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, we will win the biggest party among all states,” he said.

To a question on whether “Ab ki baar 400 par” was just a slogan or a target based on facts, Mr Shah replied, “When we won the 2014 elections under Narendra Modi’s leadership on the slogan of absolute majority, many political analysts from Delhi had said this was not possible. But we got absolute majority. Then, in 2019, when we gave the slogan of ‘300 plus’, people said it is not possible. People are saying the same this time. But I think they will believe us in the next election before ‘400 par’ is happening this time.”

A total of 57 Lok Sabha seats are going to polls in the seventh and last phase of the election on Saturday. Out of these, 26 are in the eastern states of Odisha, Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Counting of the votes will be held on June 4.