Even as the BJP set sights on returning to power at the Centre next year, actor-turned party leader Khushboo Sundar on Thursday said the focus for the saffron party currently is on the upcoming Assembly elections in five states.
Speaking at a session titled ‘Reinvention and Resurgence: Staying Alive In Movies’ at The ABP Southern Rising Summit, the actor-turned-politician said, “For now, we are focussing on the upcoming elections in five states as there is still time for the next general elections. The BJP will begin its preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections in earnest from January next year.”
The Election Commission has already announced the schedule for the state legislative elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Mizoram.
Elections will be held in Mizoram in a single phase on November 7, in Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan will go to polls on November 23. The elections in Telangana will be held in a single phase on November 30. Chhattisgarh will hold the elections in two phases – November 7 and 17.
The counting of votes has been scheduled on December 3.
Invoking what she called Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “deep affection” for the state of Tamil Nadu, Sundar said, “Often in his public statements, Prime Minister Modi has made glowing references to Tamil Nadu and its people. I believe people should judge the Prime Minister and the party that he represents by the affection and love that he has for the state.”
To a question on whether the BJP faces a rout in the South in the coming elections, the party leader said, “The cornerstone of a democracy like ours is the right to free speech. Everyone has the freedom to say what he or she wants. However, to people who make such statements I can say with certainty that the BJP would soon make deep electoral inroads into the South and when we extend our footprints here, many of our Opposition forces would be reduced to oblivion.”
Tearing into the Opposition, she said, "We are not here to loot for five years and then scoot. We are here to stay and make a difference to the people's lives. Even while the Opposition was coming after us during the Covid pandemic and the lockdowns that followed, we fought it together and eventually came out with our own vaccine which was administered to not just our citizens but those in 186 countries. While the world acknowledged our efforts, I didn't see a single Oppositon leader laud our government."