In 2019, people are going to vote for Modi again: Fadnavis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be voted back to power in the 2019 general elections, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said emphasising that the Indian leader is addressing basic problems of the common man through flagship schemes of constructing toilets, providing bank accounts and gas connections.

Fadnavis is currently visiting the US following a trip to Canada. After meeting investors and CEOs and attending a community reception in the city, he will visit Washington and San Francisco.

In 2019, people are going to vote Narendra Modi again because what India could not achieve in 67 years, we have achieved a lot in the last four years, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in an interview on Wednesday.

I won't say that nothing happened in 67 years but the path on which the country has begun its journey now, is something which was never thought of, he said.

Fadnavis said at a time when India is the fastest growing economy in the world, is developing infrastructure and technology, Modi is simultaneously addressing the problems of a common man.

We may talk about missions to the moon but even today 50% of the population does not have toilets. Look at that disparity. That disparity is being addressed by Modi, he said. Unless we address this disparity, it will result in a very divided society.

According to official data, Maharashtra has constructed the maximum number of individual household toilets under the Centre's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission scheme, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Till November last year, as many as 42.72 lakh household toilets have been constructed against the target of 66.42 lakh.

Fadnavis said citizens of the country are now getting basic requirements like gas connections and bank accounts. From providing gas connections to electricity connections, every single step is changing the country and that is why I am very sure that people will vote for Narendra Modi again in 2019.

Asked about the electoral losses suffered by the BJP in the recently held by-elections in Kairana and Noorpur seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra as the country gets ready for the 2019 general elections, Fadnavis said by-elections cannot be a yardstick since in the by-elections the voting is low.

On the threat letters allegedly by Maoists containing a plot to target Modi, Fadnavis said the letter have been recovered from a hard disk and there is other corroborating evidence that an assassination attempt was being planned against Modi. NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said the BJP was playing a "threat letter card" to gain sympathy. Fadnavis reiterated that it was very unfortunate when senior leaders like Pawar make such comments.

With all the damaging evidence, if somebody says that it is a letter to get sympathy, I don't expect that from such a person, he said.

PTI