Gujarat election results: Prakash Raj questions Modi on failure to win 150-plus seats

Prakash Raj, who has been critical of the BJP, on Monday lauded the saffron party for its win in the Gujarat polls but asked why it could not achieve its target of more than 150 seats.

Bengaluru, Dec 19: Months ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah gave a clarion call to his party cadres to work towards winning 150-plus seats during the polls. The target set by Shah for the BJP was named as "Mission-150".

Now, as the election results are out on Monday, the BJP managed to win the polls but had to settle for 99 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Legislative Assembly. This time, the BJP's win in the state election is not as convincing as its previous ones. In the 2012 Assembly elections, the BJP won 115 seats.

While many have congratulated the BJP for winning the all-important Gujarat Assembly elections for the sixth consecutive times, others highlighted the fact that the BJP's control over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state has weakened.

Multi-lingual actor Prakash Raj, who has been critical of the BJP, on Monday lauded the saffron party for its win in the Gujarat polls but asked why it could not achieve its target of more than 150 seats.

Raj congratulated PM Modi for the BJP's victory but tweeted "Weren't you supposed to sweep with your VIKAAS? What happened to 150+..?."

"Dear prime minister, Congratulations for the victory... but are you really happy..#justasking," he added.

He inquired whether Modi will pause for a moment to realise that "divisive politics" has not worked.

"Our country has bigger issues than Pakistan, religion, caste, supporting fringe groups that threaten... and the ego of settling personal scores. There are genuine rural issues," the actor said.

Saying that the "neglected voice" of the farmer, poor, and rural India just got louder, Raj sought to know from the PM whether he could hear that.

The actor had earlier questioned Modi's "silence" over the killing of senior journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh with whom he was closely associated.

He has also been criticising the BJP and right-wing outfits since then, inviting sharp attacks from them.

Now, we have to wait and watch whether Modi will take out time from his busy schedule to reply to the questions raised by the actor in his tweet.

OneIndia News