Kolkata: A day after Bengal registered record polling in the first phase of the assembly elections, Union home minister Amit Shah claimed that the BJP would win more than 110 of the 152 seats that went to poll on Thursday. Shah also claimed that the tally after the second phase will see “Didi on her way out”. While the first phase included polling in north Bengal — the stronghold of the BJP — south Bengal has remained a challenging frontier for the party.“It is clear that the BJP is going to win more than 110 out of the 152 seats. The response Prime Minister Narendra Modi and my rallies saw in the state was locked in the EVM. The voters in the second phase will advance the journey from bhay (fear) to bharosa (trust). The BJP will form govt in the state with a clear majority,” Shah said.On Thursday, Shah stayed in the BJP’s ‘war room’ in Salt Lake till late night, assessing feedback from the districts.Shah further said, “I see a tsunami of support. There will not only be an increase in the number of seats, but a higher winning margin as well. I am confident that in the second phase, there will be more enthusiasm.”“The anti-incumbency is at its peak in the state. It was very high even in the last assembly polls. But the voting was not without fear last time. Booths were looted and voters were not allowed to come out of their homes,” Shah added.Shah said that deletion of fake voters, cleansing of the electoral system, removal of names of “infiltrators”, and a peaceful poll has made a large change this time.He hoped that the Presidency division — including Kolkata and parts of two 24 Parganas, Howrah and Nadia — would “perform better than north Bengal”. The districts will go for poll on April 29.
