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Jitendra Singh[/caption]
New Delhi, May 11 (PTI): The BJP will get the highest tally from the north-eastern states, thus opening a new chapter in the history of electoral politics of northeast India, Union minister Jitendra Singh claimed on Saturday.
This tally will get further added on by the seats to be won by BJP allies under the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), he said.
Sharing his assessment of the voting trends, Singh, who has been the minister in-charge of the northeastern states for the last five years, recalled that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had won only eight out of 25 seats in these states, which included seven from Assam and one from Arunachal Pradesh.
This time, however, he predicted that the jinx will break and the BJP will also record a decisive victory from states like Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur from where last time it did not get a single seat.
The contribution of the north-eastern states to the overall BJP tally in the Lok Sabha will not only mark a definite departure from the past trends, but also would make the eight northeastern states a major player in the country's national politics, said Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.
Crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the incredible upsurge of the BJP in northeast, he said a continued micro-level focus of the government on the region, coupled with successful restructuring of organisation by BJP president Amit Shah have turned the tables in the favour of the BJP.
As far as development in these states is concerned, Singh said there is, for example, a network of roads across the region and a double-gauge rail track being laid even in the states which had never seen a train before.
Not only this, he said, Modi ensured closest possible bonding between the Centre and the north-eastern states by rolling out a roster whereby eight union ministers would travel to northeast every fortnight which, in other words, meant that there was to be at least one union minister stationed in each of the eight states every 15 days.
In addition, Singh said the personal appeal and charisma of Modi acted as a binding force for all segments of the society, tribes and sects in this peripheral region of the country.
The results on May 23 will prove that the people of the northeastern region have, under the Modi government, totally mingled with the rest of India, the minister said.
