WATCH | Monday Talk: Congress won Madhya Pradesh polls on false promises, says BJP spokesperson Gulrez Sheikh

Recently Assembly elections were held in five states. Out of these five states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in the three major states-Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. These polls are being seen by many as semi-finals before the final Lok Sabha elections 2019.

To know more about what went wrong in MP, journalist Anurag Sason has an in-depth conversation with BJP Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Dr. Gulrez Sheikh.

Here are important excerpts from the exclusive interview: (Scroll down to watch the complete interview)

Q1) Since last 15 years, the BJP was ruling MP. What went wrong this time?

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: See, first of all, state elections can never be a semifinal match. They can’t be compared with General Elections. The Congress party propagated lies to win the state elections. Its manifesto is a false manifesto. The total budget of the state right now is Rs 2 lakh crore and the promises which the Congress party has done in its manifesto will require Rs 20 lakh crore. It is impossible to generate that much amount of money in such a small span of time. On our part, nothing went wrong in the past 15 years.

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Q2) After the 2018 Assembly results, opposition parties are saying that there is no “Modi wave” now as it was in 2014. Your comments on this.

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: Yes you are right! There is no “Modi wave” but there is Modi Tsunami. They will feel the same in LS polls 2019.

Q3) Now, in MP, what will be the strategy of the BJP?

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: Whether we are in government or not we have always worked for the people of the country. Now we are in opposition, we will act as a chowkidar and we will make sure that whatever the promises Congress party has done to the people of the state, they must fulfill it.

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Q4) In Madhya Pradesh if we talk about polling percentage, the Congress got 40.9% of the votes and the BJP 41%. That is, the difference is of just 0.1%. Your comment on this interesting aspect.

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: See we were ahead of the Congress party in the polls but we faced defeat because in India we have first past the post system and we respect that. However, the people of the state are still with us.

Q5) Why BJP lost in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan?

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: In Rajasthan, we have a trend that every time the people of the state change the government but yes in Chhattisgarh we have to introspect.

Q6) How the BJP will perform in Lok Sabha polls 2019?

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: Very easily we will win more than 300 seats. And why am saying this is because, in today’s time, people want a strong government. In the national interest, only a strong government can take good decisions.

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Q7) DMK chief MK Stalin proposed the name of Mr. Rahul Gandhi as the next PM of India. Your comments.

Dr. Gulrez Sheikh: What else can you expect? They are an ally of the Congress party, definitely, they will make such moves.

WATCH COMPLETE INTERVIEW: Monday Talk | Congress won MP polls on false promises: Gulrez Sheikh to Anurag Sason

About the author: Author is Deputy Editor in India TV and tweets at@AnuragSason

The interview is taken in the personal capacity and is exclusively for this website.