Hindu votes alone don't make BJP win; TMC 'misrule', Shah's ground-work key in Bengal: Pradeep Gupta

Years of TMC ''misrule'' that created a ''climate of fear'', Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and the organisational abilities of Amit Shah and the RSS brought the BJP to power in West Bengal, according to India's top pollster Pradeep Gupta.

In an interview to PTI on Wednesday, Gupta, who runs Axis My India, dismissed suggestions that a consolidation of Hindu votes played any role in the ouster of Mamata Banerjee's TMC after 15 years in power.

He also hailed the Indian voter, from the poorest village to the wealthiest city, as mature and smart, saying they are not majorly influenced by poll promises, freebies or religion. Good governance, rather than religious polarisation, was helping the BJP establish its dominance, he asserted.

''Hindu and Muslim issues do not determine victory or losses. When you attribute BJP's win to Hindu vote consolidation, you undermine the good development and the good work done in those states,'' Gupta said.

Specifically on Bengal, he said the TMC had created a climate of fear which, he said, was evident when his surveyors talked to respondents after the first round of voting on April 23. They refused to talk to the surveyors which was a clear indication that they had moved away from the TMC and voted for the BJP.

''Puja se zyada mahatva pait ka hai, aur pait se bada mahatva jaan ka hai (For people, food in the stomach is more important than worship. And even more important than food in the stomach is life),'' Gupta told

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