Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday said the party’s golden era was yet to come and could only be achieved if the BJP “ruled from panchayat to Parliament”. “Every state should see this, in every state, we have to take the BJP to power,” Shah told his party workers on Saturday at the BJP’s National Executive meeting in Bhubaneswar.

Shah said the aim should not be only the party’s victory, but the country’s success as well. “We should see to it that the country reaches a high position among the comity of nations. Once we achieve that we can say the BJP’s golden era has come,” he said.

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The BJP president exhorted the party workers to work hard in order to win the next Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. “We cannot be complacent,” Shah told them.

On the recent political violence in Kerala and West Bengal, Shah said BJP workers will rise more if they are suppressed with violence. “We will work peacefully, with determination.”

Shah also came down heavily on the Opposition parties that have been alleging that the Electronic Voting Machines are rigged in favour of the BJP. He said questioning the EVMs’ authenticity “is an insult to the Election Commission”. “It is expected that defeated parties accept their loss with honesty. But now they are finding excuses.”

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Shah then said Naveen Patnaik had failed on all fronts during his term as the chief minister of Odisha, adding that the BJP will form the next government in the state too. “The hard work and struggles of Odisha BJP workers will soon bear fruit.”

Union Minister and senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the BJP chief had asked the party office-bearers and ministers to spend at least 15 days each month to reach out to workers to the booth level. “Shah himself will be visiting Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala and Gujarat, apart from spending 95 days till September visiting polling booths across India to have a profound connect with every booth worker in the country,” Prasad said.