NDA will bag 300 Lok Sabha seats: RPI chief Ramdas Athawale

Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said the BJP-led NDA, of which his party is a constituent, would win 300 Lok Sabha seats and come to power at the Centre.

Talking to reporters at the Indore Press Club, Athawale said all exit polls had forecast outcome favourable to NDA, due to which he was confident that the alliance would win 300 seats and form the government on its own with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.

"People were quite angry with the UPA government because of scams, which is why voter turnouts at many places were as much as 30% higher," he said.

Talking about Rahul Gandhi, he said even after being in politics for the last several years, he could not match the charisma of his late father Rajiv Gandhi.

Athawale said his party would contest the next assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with BJP.

Answering a question, he said Maoism could never do anything positive for Dalits and tribals. These communities should embrace Ambedkar's philosophy instead, he said.