Amit Shah interview: ‘The most important explanation of Mandate 2024 will be the people’s belief that the road the country is on is the right one’

Hours after Phase 6 of the Lok Sabha polls closed Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Neerja Chowdhury and Raj Kamal Jha at his Krishna Menon Marg residence in New Delhi. Edited excerpts:

Amit Shah: To form the government, we already have the numbers from the first five phases.

Amit Shah: We are somewhere between 300 and 310… this is minus the last phase… We are in a comfortable position. This time, we went to the people with 10 years of track record and 25 years of a powerfully positive agenda.

In the beginning, there was a consensus that this is a boring election, a done deal. Over the last month, it seems there is a hawa from the Opposition’s side too… The Opposition is putting up a spirited fight.

We will know about that once the verdict comes in.

Shah: I have travelled across India. Barring Ladakh, I have been in every state, every UT… In 2019, there was a feeling in the people that the nation had benefited from a decisive government, a decisive leader, and the fact that what Modi was doing was good – all these three. In 2024, the feeling is that this is the route to take towards making India a great nation. A self-confidence has taken hold. For any nation, its public’s samoohik atmavishwas (collective self-confidence) is the reason behind the nation’s development. There is also the samoohik sankalp (collective determination) of 130 crore people. And Modiji has tapped into both by framing them as Amrit Mahotsav… All children who will grow up over the next 30 years have this determination and confidence that India can do it. I think this is a huge achievement for the nation. You will look for countless reasons to explain the mandate but the most important one will be the people’s belief that the road the