Bengal BJP upbeat before counting, hopes to better exit poll tally

Kolkata, May 22 (IANS) A day before the 2019 Lok Sabha election results come out, the BJP's West Bengal unit on Wednesday seemed upbeat about its performance in the state, with a senior leader saying people's desire for an "alternative" to the ruling Trinamool Congress may propel them to an even better position than the exit polls predictions.

Most of the exit polls have predicted an unprecedented surge of the saffron party in Bengal this election and projected that it may end up winning between five to 23 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats, handsomely improving its tally of two seats five years back.

"Certainly the exit poll projections have made our workers optimistic. But we are hoping to do even better as people of Bengal are with us. We are hopeful that tomorrow's result will upset many calculations. We are not sure if we will win 23 seats or even more," party's state General Secretary Pratap Banerjee told IANS.

"West Bengal Chief Minister has been openly calling Prime Minister Modi a thief, she confronted people for chanting Jai Shree Ram and threw them in jail. The common people did not like it. There has been an adverse reaction to her activities across the state. So people here are looking for an alternative and BJP has taken that place," he claimed.

At the party's state headquarters at 6, Muralidhar Sen Lane, many BJP activists gathered on Wednesday afternoon and enthusiastically talked about the poll results to be declared on Thursday.

"We are hoping to shock many including CM Mamata Banerjee with our results tomorrow. People know BJP can rescue Bengal from its current situation. Tomorrow's result will show that," a young activist said.

The party leadership said no major programmes have been planned yet for Thursday as most of the senior leaders, who contested in the 2019 polls, will be in their respective constituencies when the results are announced.

Banerjee said a giant projection screen will be put up on the ground floor hall of the state party headquarters where local leaders and activists will watch the election results unfold.

Dubbing Mamata Banerjee's apprehensions over EVMs as "baseless", he said it was a "last ditch attempt" by her to pep up party workers.

"How can such a large number of EVMs be tampered with? Such claims are baseless. It is clear that she and her party leader are making such statements to rejuvenate the workers," the BJP leader said.

"Many Trinamool leaders have felt insulted by certain decisions of their party leadership. Many of them are in touch with us," he alleged.