By IANS,
Panaji : The ongoing assembly elections in five states across India are a “semifinal”, ahead of the general elections scheduled in 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari said Sunday.
Gadkari, who was in Goa to announce a pre-poll alliance with a regional party, also said that the BJP was confident of installing non-Congress governments in all five states — Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur.
“The elections in these five states are a semifinal. I am sure that the BJP will have its government in Punjab and Uttarakhand,” Gadkari said, adding that the politically sensitive state of Uttar Pradesh could throw up a verdict in favour of his party.
“In Goa, the people are tired of corruption, which has reached never before levels. I was in Manipur for two days and I can confidently say that there will be a non-Congress government there,” Gadkari said.