By IANS,
New Delhi : After its remarkable showing in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become the “frontrunner” ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections, party president Rajnath Singh Sunday.
“The BJP used to be known as the north Indian party. But by winning Karnataka we have proved that it is a national party. With the BJP and its allies governing 12 states in the country, we are the front runner for the Lok Sabha elections,” Singh told a packed press conference at the party headquarters here.
“It is a major milestone in BJP’s history,” he added, referring to its victory in Karnataka, the first time the BJP will take power in any southern state on its own strength.
Singh, flanked by party leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and V.K. Malhotra, also expressed confidence that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under the leadership of its prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani would take power nationally after the next elections.
He said it was significant that for the first time since independence, any party had acquired a stature larger than that of the Congress.