Madhya Pradesh Assembly Poll: Aim to win 200-plus seats, Amit Shah tells BJP workers

BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday exhorted his party workers in Madhya Pradesh to strive to win over 200 seats in next month's state Assembly polls. The polling for the 230-member Assembly in the BJP-ruled state will be held on November 28.

Speaking at a party workers' convention at Hoshangabad in the state, Shah said, "The party can form the government with less than 200 seats, but we need to cross the 200-mark because our workers in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are looking towards Madhya Pradesh." The saffron party currently has 166 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

Shah said the victories in the upcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh should be so massive that they create a storm, which would turn into a "tsunami" in 2019. "This tsunami would cover the entire country, including West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala," he added.

"The party has witnessed success due to the sacrifices of several workers and leaders in the last 50 years. We are lucky, but we also have a responsibility. After we win the 2018 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, we will have the responsibility of ensuring victory for the party from panchayat to Parliament for the next 50 years," Shah said.

Recalling that he was a booth in-charge in 1982, Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the only party where an ordinary worker could rise to the president's post.

"It is possible only in the BJP that a tea-seller's son can bring glory to the country by becoming prime minister," he said, referring to Narendra Modi.