THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: Asserting that BJP will have no problem in forming the government in the Centre in 2019, Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Naik on Monday said recent poll reverses suffered by the BJP in five States would have no effect in the ensuing parliament elections.
He also said there was no possibility of having mid-term polls in the State along with the parliament elections as the BJP-led alliance government in Goa was functioning smoothly.
“There is a big difference between Assembly and Parliament elections. State elections are fought on local issues while parliament polls are concerned with national issues. The recent result in the five States will have no bearing on Lok Sabha elections,” Naik said.
The union minister of state was speaking at the sidelines of a function after inaugurating a crib set-up at the Calangute police station.
Naik further said that the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-government in the last four and half years would help BJP come back to power at the Centre.
“BJP-led NDA coalition is likely to get more than 258 seats in the parliamentary election and therefore there won’t be a problem to form a BJP-led coalition at the Centre in 2019,” he said.
He said the assembly results in the three Hindu-heartland states went against BJP only because of high anti-incumbency factor in those states.
“In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, BJP was in power for the last 15 years and in Rajasthan, it’s a trend to always elect a new government to power,” he argued.
He further said that in Madhya Pradesh, the voting percentage of BJP and Congress was nearly the same. “We have to give respect to the people’s mandate in those States,” the union minister said.
Stating that the result in five states will have no effect on Goa, Naik maintained that there was no possibility of mid-term polls in the State along with the Parliamentary elections in April/May.
“Why should there be mid-term elections in Goa? The State government is running smoothly along with the support of the allies. Secondly, it will be against the public mandate for a five-year term to the assembly,” he said.
The union minister of State for Ayush said the central team of BJP will decide on whether to change leadership of BJP unit in the State.
“No such discussion of making Laxmikant Parsekar as BJP chief has happened. But the central BJP team will decide in the matter,” he said.
