Amit Shah predicts BJP sweep in assembly polls

The BJP chief said it was time for the party to reclaim the government in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and electorally-crucial state, where assembly elections are scheduled to take place in 2017.

BJP president Amit Shah, chief architect of the party's spectacular win in the Lok Sabha elections, on Tuesday predicted a similar sweep in four states where assembly polls are due.

Shah, a long-time confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also said it was time for the party to reclaim the government in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and electorally-crucial state, where assembly elections are scheduled to take place in 2017.

"Now is the time to focus on state politics and I am sure that with the toil and hard work of party workers, we will achieve a two-thirds majority in the assembly elections," he told the party cadre in Lucknow, kicking off his two-day trip to UP during which he will take stock of the BJP's poll preparedness. By-elections in one parliamentary and 11 assembly constituencies in UP will be held on September 13.

"We were very young when a BJP government under Kalyan Singh was formed in UP. We used to hear how efficiently it was run. It would be really pleasing to have a BJP chief minister in UP taking oath with Kalyan Singhji by his side," he said.

Urging party workers to take on the "misrule" of the Samajwadi Party in the state, Shah accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of punishing people for overwhelmingly voting for the BJP and PM Modi in the parliamentary polls.

"Go to the people with the slogan, 'Neither SP, nor BSP, only BJP'. In less than three months, the Modi government has proved how passionate it's to take the country forward," he said.

Shah was the man responsible for the BJP's stunning show in UP where the party won over the Dalits and other backward classes to secure 71 of the state's 80 Lok Sabha seats, ensuring that it emerged as the single largest party in Parliament.