Hailing the BJP's performance in recently-held elections in three northeastern states, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the party will register victory in poll-bound Karnataka as well.
He said the BJP secured nearly half of the total vote share in Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, which shows that voters are increasingly in favour of the saffron party.
"The BJP has not only won the elections but secured 49 to 50 per cent votes in (the three) northeast states. It shows the mandate is inclined towards the BJP. The poll outcome is also a boost for forthcoming assembly election in Karnataka," the chief minister told reporters in Mumbai, a day after the BJP won Tripura, and is believed to be in reckoning to form governments with alliance partners in Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Analysing the poll outcome, Fadnavis said the BJP did not win the elections because of some vote division, but due to the people's trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.
Fadnavis said the BJP is now in power in 21 states covering 78 per cent of geographical area of the country, and will repeat its historical win in the 2019 general elections as well.
During his interaction with reporters, Fadnavis quoted a social media message to taunt the Congress.
"There is a social media message, which I also liked. It says the Congress wants bypolls to be held only in those areas where it has improved its performance," he said in an apparent reference to the Congress retaining two of its seats in the bypolls held in Madhya Pradesh recently.
"I wanted to thank the voters of Tripura for one more reason. In the last six months, as many as 27 workers of the BJP were killed in violence when the previous government was in power. Despite so much opposition, the BJP clinched the victory which is a commendable job," said Fadnavis.