Ramdas Athawale said the NDA will be in power after the 2019 general elections while addressing a press conference on Wednesday in New Delhi. Athawale said this refuting the statement of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's statement a day before where he had said in an event in Mumbai that Narendra Modi would not be the prime minister after the 2019 general elections and the governments would change both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
"There will be change in government in Delhi and Maharashtra. No single party can provide an alternative. I do not think Narendra Modi will be prime minister after the Lok Sabha polls," Pawar had said.
"I am not in agreement with Sharad Pawar's statement. The NDA will be in power after the 2019 general elections under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The government has documented its work in the past four and a half years and this is why the NDA government will return to power," said Athawale.
The BJP will win over 300 seats in the next general elections, he added. Athawale said the BJP would get significant number of votes from Muslims and Dalits as well. Athawale mentioned how schemes like Digital India, Make in India and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana Abhiyan, among others would contribute to the success. Athawale belongs to the Republican Party of India which is an ally of the BJP.
He also blamed the Congress-led government for the delay to hand over the Indu Mill site for Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial. He credited the Narendra Modi government for handing over the land for the memorial.While speaking on the controversy on the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, he said women were being denied entry in the name of tradition and wondered why women were not being allowed inside the shrine despite the directions of the Supreme Court.