With most of the exit polls predicting the return of the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister and Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief Anupriya Patel on Monday said that the National Democratic Alliance government would come back to power with a "thumping majority" in the state.
Speaking to ANI, Patel said she was not surprised by the predictions.
"I am not surprised. We have been saying this since day one that the NDA alliance will return to power once again. The exit polls are predicting in the same direction," she said.
"The exit polls did not show us winning 325 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections as well, but we won so many seats. When the results would be announced on March 10, we would return with a thumping majority," she added.
Asked about the impact of Swami Prasad Maurya and some other leaders leaving the BJP ahead of the polls, Patel said this did not have an impact on the elections.
"When people change parties, it does not impact the mind of the voters. It would not impact the results whatsoever," she said.
She said the people have seen the impact of the government's schemes on their ease of living.
"There are many families which have benefitted from more than one welfare scheme. The adoption of technology has eliminated corruption in schemes. The voters of the state have felt an impact of the ease of living and their faith in the government has increased. If the government has worked, it should present the report card to the people. We worked for the entire five years, so we had the report card," she said.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Apna Dal (Sonelal) is among the BJP's allies in Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre.
( With inputs from ANI )
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