BJP fears its votes shifting towards Congress

Varanasi, Apr 19 (UNI) Fearing its traditional voters were shifting towards the Congress, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today appealed the electorate of Uttar Pradesh not to ''waste'' votes by supporting the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

''Do not waste your vote by pressing the EVM button in favour of the Congress. Your desire of voting out the non-performing and anti-people Mulayam Singh Yadav government in UP can only be actualised by supporting the BJP,'' the party national secretary Balbir Punj told newspersons here.

''We do not believe in opinion or exit polls, but if there is even an iota of truth in these surveys which forecast 30-40 seats for the Congress, it could be the result of the traditional BJP voter shifting towards the Congress,'' Mr Punj maintained.

''Do not vote for Congress as only BJP can oust both SP and BSP from the state.'' ''The exit polls forecast a maximum of 50 seats for BJP before the commencement of elections, but latest survey shows the party with 100-110 seats locked in a fierce fight for the top spot with SP and BSP. Let the seven-phase polls be complete and you will yourself see BJP getting majority with allies Apna Dal and JD(U),'' Mr Punj claimed.

''Dont be surprised... the BJP is heading towards majority in UP,'' he quipped.

Launching a scathing attack on SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati, Mr Punj said, ''both the leaders during their term as UP CM were icons of misgovernance and corruption. Both of them are already under CBI scanner, courtsey SC orders, and will land up in jail if they fail to become CM again.'' The BJP leader further said ''the assembly polls in UP are slowly turning into a contest to elect the right CM and people have full confidence in BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kalyan Singh, who scripted an unparellel tale of good governance during his earlier stints as the state CM.'' UNI ARS ATI SK HS1710