Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed confidence today that the BJP will win all 29 seats of the state. The big promise is the victory in Chhindwara - which has been a Congress bastion for around 40 years. This, he said, will be possible because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "track record".
Chhindwara is the constituency of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, from where the Congress has fielded his son Nakul Nath. Even in 2014, when the BJP came to power across the country, Chhindwara had voted for the Congress. Ditto in 2019, when the party increased its numbers to 303.
This time would be different because of the "Modi-ki guarantee," Mr Yadav said in an exclusive interview with NDTV's Editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia.
"People have seen PM Modi's 10-year track record. We have people's support. There is no anti-incumbency factor against Modi," he said, citing last year's assembly election, in which the BJP won a massive victory despite a buzz about anti-incumbency.
"We will win Chhindawara too. People are very happy with PM's work," he added.
This is also borne out by voteshare, he said. From 44 per cent, it went up to 48 per cent in the assembly election. The party had won 58 per cent votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, with 28 of the 29 seats. "We will definitely get more this time," he said.
The Congress, he added, is well aware of its imminent defeat. It became clear when they gave away the Khajuraho seat to the Samajwadi Party, he added.
Asked about the issues and narratives for this election, Mr Yadav said the party has a "straight plan".
"Like PM Modi says, double engine Sarkar -- like interlinking of river projects that will benefit the region. There are a lot of projects where we have benefitted from central government's help," he added.