Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana had reached a key barrier and that he expected this to convert into votes. Shah projected the BJP's "best ever showing" in four southern states in this election according to Indian media.

"This time, from the south I feel it will be our best showing. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana... and Karnataka... in these states, we will have a strong result. For the first time in South India, Prime Minister Modi's popularity has grown so that we can get votes and seats."

In support of his argument that the BJP should now capture seats in South India, a region that has historically rejected the party, he cited the higher vote share between the 2014 and 2019 elections.

In Tamil Nadu, the BJP received 5.5% of the vote in the 2014 election. In 2019, this dropped to less than 3.7. The party received slightly more than 10% of the votes in Kerala, a neighbouring state, in 2014; five years later, that percentage rose to 12.93%. But the party was unable to secure a seat in either state.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have historically been the BJP's struggled most states. However, the BJP has heavily invested in Mr Modi's time as well as considerable money to campaign in these states.

In recent weeks, Mr. Modi has been to Kerala and Tamil Nadu more than a dozen times.

The comment comes as the first round of voting for all 39 of Tamil Nadu's seats takes place today.

Twenty seats in Kerala vote in the second phase on April 26; the remaining twenty-five seats in Andhra Pradesh vote in the fourth phase on May 13. 17 seats in Telangana will vote on May 13. In the state, the BJP saw significant gains in the 2018 Assembly election, moving from one seat to eight this time.

Karnataka votes in the second and third phases, on April 26 and May 7, making it the only southern state where the BJP is well-represented. The last election saw the BJP win 25 of the 28 seats.

The southern states are vital to the BJP's aspiration to win over 370 Lok Sabha seats on its own and over 400 with its partners in the NDA. Only 29 of the 130 MPs that the party sent to the Lok Sabha came from the southern states, which includes Puducherry's sole seat.

To meet its 'abki baar, 400 paar' aim, the BJP has to do much better. This is especially important because the opposition INDIA alliance led by the Congress is predicted to win Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while the non-aligned YSR Congress Party is thought to have the advantage in Andhra Pradesh.