Amit Shah targets 50 per cent vote share in 2019 Lok Sabha elections

BJP president Amit Shah says his party will target "50 per cent" of the vote share in next year's general elections. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team achieve that goal, it would be a whopping 19 per cent increase from 2014.

But what about the saffron party's not-so-ideal performances in three recently-concluded Lok Sabha bypolls?

In an exclusive interview with Aaj Tak executive editor Sweta Singh, Shah didn't appear too concerned by the NDA's humiliating defeats in two key Uttar Pradesh constituencies - Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

While the BJP leader said the electoral agreement between the BSP and the SP could have played a role, he pointed out that in general elections - unlike in bypolls - "big leaders and issues" are involved.

"We have formed a committee to look into the reason for the losses and will deliberate on its report," he said.

The Lok Sabha elections are several months away. A series of assembly elections pave the rocky road to 2019, and the first challenge on that journey is Karnataka.

What does Amit Shah think about the BJP's chances in the southern state, where its political arch-nemesis is in power?

"We will win Karnataka," said a confident Shah. "The way Siddaramaiah [Karnataka CM and senior Congress leader] has run the state, I feel that the anti-incumbency factor will work,"

Besides, Shah added, there's "craze" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state.

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