Biggest question -- in 2019, BJP won 303; --- 31 seats more than 2014 tally -- this time target is 370 plus --- where from 67 seats will come ???

(For additional 67 new seats to reach 370 target or nearer to that --- BJP need to retain its hold in northern states including Rajasthan and Gujarat in the west.

** BJP eyeing about 30-32 (from 18 in 2019) from West Bengal. That means the Lotus party is keen to get 12-14 new seats.

In neighbouring Odisha: BJP won 8 in 2019 and this may increase the tally to 14-15. In Uttar Pradesh, if the tally crosses 70 mark; the BJP may win 8-10 news seats. 

So from these three states in the north, the BJP will have to win 31 additional seats. 

It will need 6-8 new seats from Telangana -- which has 17 seats. It may get couple of seats in Andhra Pradesh. But political peculiarity suggests the NDA or PM Narendra Modi will get support of all 25 MPs in Andhra Pradesh presuming Congress will not win even one. 

There will be still a shortfall to reach the milestone of 370. But if BJP makes 350 or so with allies it can touch or go near 400 target. 

Narendra Modi is certainly the face of the Hindu-nationalist BJP, seeking a rare third consecutive term.

This will be a record.

Modi has focused his campaign largely on his government’s performance on economic growth and welfare benefits.

The Lotus party had won all 10 seats in Haryana, 25 in Rajasthan, seven in Delhi, five in Uttarakhand, four in Himachal Pradesh, and 26 in Gujarat. 

The BJP won all the seats, including with allies. Remaining are 11 seats in Chhattisgarh, 14 in Jharkhand, 29 in Madhya Pradesh, 40 in Bihar, 48 in Maharashtra and 80 in Uttar Pradesh. 

In Bihar it along with ally JD-U and LJP had won 39. In fact, as high as 95 per cent in these states came to the BJP.

In Uttar Pradesh however, where it got 78 pc seats -- 62 of its own and 2 for allies. In 2014 -- BJP had won 71. The loss in Uttar Pradesh was made up by significant gains in 2019 in Odisha and West Bengal.  

The target of 67 new MPs possible or not to arrive at 370 ? 

According to some Modi changed tack after the first phase of voting on April 19 and his campaign speeches have since become more polarising on religious lines.

He has been accusing Congress of planning to redistribute the wealth of the majority Hindus among minority Muslims, who he called “infiltrators” who have “more children”.

The videos shared by the BJP over the last ten days, one of which has since been taken down, illustrated the same message.

A 17-second video shared by a state unit of BJP on May 4, with over 8.5 million views, shows a character resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi feeding “funds” to a bird in a skullcap, which eventually pushes out from their common nest three other birds representing other disadvantaged groups.

The Congress has filed a police complaint against BJP leaders for the video, BJP’s head of information and technology Amit Malviya said on X.

“The Congress should in fact thank the BJP for taking their manifesto to the people in a manner that even they couldnt,” he wrote.

The video has elicited outrage. Nitasha Kaul, a politics professor at London’s Westminster University said on X that the video was a “straightforward 1930s Germany style cartoon”.  

Congress, in its election manifesto, has promised to tackle India’s economic inequality by conducting a socio-economic caste census and extending affirmative action. It said it will ensure that minorities receive “their fair share” of education, economic and healthcare opportunities.