Pasted Posters In Gandhinagar, People’s Love Made Me Home Minister: Amit Shah

Having filed his nomination from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, a Lok Sabha constituency he won by a massive margin of 5.5 lakh votes in 2019, Amit Shah on Friday reflected on his journey from a local-level worker who pasted posters for the BJP to the party’s de facto number two and the Union home minister.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Mr Shah expressed confidence that the party will get its best-ever result in the south and said he was happy this his roadshow, held on Thursday, passed through places he had worked in at the beginning of his career.

The mega roadshow began at Naranpura and reached Gandhinagar Via Sarkhej. “What was special for me was that the roadshow passed through areas where I have pasted posters and painted walls for the party. My journey from a local-level worker to where I am today has taken place in this region,” he said in Hindi.

“For 30 years… people from here made me an MLA and an MP and I went on to become the BJP president and the home minister. As an ally of Narendra Modi, I was part of his cabinets in Gujarat and at the Centre. I am proud of this and I believe that the love and blessings of the people of Gandhinagar are very important to me,” he reminisced.

The home minister said it made him emotional that everyone, from a seven-year-old girl to a 91-year-old woman, showered flowers and blessings on him.

All 26 seats in Gujarat will vote in the third phase on May 7.

On the BJP’s prospects in the south, which has been a major focal area for the party for the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Shah said, “I think we will have our best-ever showing in the south. We will do well in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. PM Modi’s popularity has, for the first time, reached a level in the south which will convert into electoral victories.”