Hat-trick points to a hat-trick in 2024, says Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s “historic and unprecedented” hat-trick of victories in three heartland states were a harbinger of a hat-trick for the party in next year’s general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday as he hailed the party’s impressive performances as an endorsement of his policies for a developed India, while framing women, youth, farmers and the poor as the only four castes he was determined to uplift.

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Modi made the comments while taking a victory lap at the BJP office in New Delhi on Sunday evening. Alighting from his vehicle, Modi waived to hundreds of jubilant supporters, accompanied by party president JP Nadda, and walked a short distance up to a dais where he sat along with Nadda and senior Cabinet ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.

“I generally stay away from making predictions. But I broke this convention this time to say that we are winning. Some people are saying that this hat-trick has given a guarantee of a hat-trick in 2024,” he said to resounding applause by a galaxy of ministers, leaders, supporters, and workers. He was referring to the BJP’s quest for a third consecutive term at the Centre next year.

In an hour-long speech, the PM said the BJP’s wins were a mandate for development and the resolution to make India developed country by 2047 adopted by his government. He particularly thanked women, youth and tribes (adivasis), crediting the success of the party in these rounds of elections to these voting blocs. The PM’s speech focused on these demographics that are expected to form the core of the party’s 2024 expansion push, while delivering a positive message, and warning the Opposition and detractors against negativity.

“I want to say on the basis on my track record, your dreams are my mission, they are also my resolution,” he said. “I humbly tell our sisters and mothers that the promises we have made will be fulfilled 100%. This is Modi’s guarantee and Modi’s guarantee means the guarantee is fulfilled.”

The BJP won three of the four key state elections on Sunday, with emphatic successes in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Congress won in Telangana, trouncing the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

A sixth of the country’s electorate, or about 160 million people, were eligible to vote in polls held in November.