Assembly elections 2017: BJP heading towards landslide victory in Gujarat, says Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley on Saturday slammed the Congress party`s Gujarat poll manifesto as one of "fiscal impossibility" and its hope of winning as a "political improbability".

Pic courtesy: @arunjaitley

Gandhinagar: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the BJP was satisfied with the manner in which the first phase of polling in the Gujarat assembly elections went, and claimed his party was headed towards a landslide victory.

"We express more than satisfaction over the manner in which the election has been conducted. Our estimate, with the kind of support we are getting, is that the party is heading towards a landslide victory and we will serve the people of Gujarat once again for next five years," he said.

Asked about Congress` allegation that the EVMs were connected to Bluetooth at some places, Jaitley dismissed it as "a baseless statement".

"This is a baseless statement... When such statements are given, I cannot help but say that these are alibis in preparation for a possible defeat," the FM said.

The Election Commission has said that sixty-eight percent polling was recorded in phase one of Gujarat polls. 

Earlier, Jaitley slammed the Congress' Gujarat poll manifesto as one of "fiscal impossibility" and its hope of winning as a "political improbability".

"Having no model of development, the Congress Party manifesto is one of fiscal impossibility," Jaitley said.

Jaitley in a Facebook post said the total revenue earned by Gujarat is about Rs 90,000 crore per annum. The Congress promises a tax waiver of Rs 20,000 crore, which will bring down the effective revenue income of the state to Rs 70,000 crore.

The Myth of Congress Campaign in Gujarat https://t.co/32M4oNGdNi — Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) December 9, 2017

He said there would be "no surplus money left" after the committed expenditure like salaries, pensions, social and developmental expenditure. 

"The Congress manifesto promises an additional bonanza of Rs 1,21,000 crore in terms of populist programmes... The Congress Party can well afford this risk since its victory is a political improbability," he said.

Jaitley also said that the Congress has demolished its own state-level leaderships and "outsourced both its leadership and issues to those who had conventionally nothing to do with the Congress Party".

"There is not a single state leader who is touring the state for the campaign. He also accused Congress of opting for a "divisive agenda of social repolarisation".

(With IANS inputs)