New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has laid the foundation for a “new politics” in South India with its performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Addressing the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, he lauded the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Suresh Gopi from Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, saying it was for the first time that a representative of his party had reached the lower house of Parliament from the state.
Modi referred to the electoral performance of the NDA in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu and said though its alliance, including the BJP, could not win a single seat in the state, the increase in its vote percentage there has given a “clear message” for the future.
In his address, Modi said, “In this election, the NDA has strengthened the foundation of new politics in South India.” Targeting the Congress, Modi said, “They have recently formed their government in Karnataka and Telangana. But people’s faith (in Congress) broke immediately. They came out of the illusion and embraced the NDA in both the states.”
Thanking the Tamil Nadu team, he said, “Our NDA family is very big there. Many NDA allies in Tamil Nadu did not have their own candidates. But they came together completely to keep this flag flying high. Although we could not win even a single seat in Tamil Nadu, the speed with which our vote share has increased has given a clear message about what is written for tomorrow.” In Tamil Nadu, BJP and its NDA allies contested all 39 seats. BJP had fielded its candidates on 23 seats.
In this election, the NDA got a total of 18.28 percent votes in Tamil Nadu, which shows an increase of 3.31 percent. The BJP alone saw its vote share increase from 3.6 percent in 2019 to 11.24 percent this time. Modi said, “Hundreds of our workers sacrificed their lives in Kerala,” making an indirect reference to the alleged killings of BJP workers in various incidents of political violence in the state.
He said, “If there has been such atrocities against people living with a particular ideology in Indian political life, I can say that it has happened in Kerala. It has happened much more than what happened in Jammu and Kashmir.” Modi said in an apparent reference to Gopi, “There was no victory in sight. Still, he never stopped trying his best. Spent generations on this. And, today for the first time, our representative has come to Parliament from Kerala.” He praised the NDA’s victory on 21 out of the total 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and said that such a huge mandate to the alliance is a reflection of the people’s desire for the progress of the country. In Andhra Pradesh, NDA constituent Telugu Desam Party won 16 Lok Sabha seats, while BJP won three and Jana Sena Party won two seats.