A Bharatiya Janata Party MP has predicted that his party will not only lose power in Gujarat, but will not get enough seats in the Assembly elections to even form a coalition government. Sanjay Kakade, a member of Rajya Sabha from Pune, told Pune Mirror that he had conducted a survey in Gujarat, which showed the situation for the BJP was “grave”.

“[The BJP] has been in power for the longest time and there is a possibility that anti-incumbency will affect us,” Kakade said. “Apart from this, the fact is that the Muslim population is unhappy with us to a large extent. Since [Narendra] Modi became prime minister, he could not concentrate on state issues the way he used to when he was the chief minister.”

Kakade said that there had been no suitable replacement for Modi since he gave up his position as chief minister for a national role.

He also said the party failed to make development its agenda during the election campaign.

“The way Hardik Patel was recently tackled by releasing a ‘sex CD’ of his was also a mistake,” he told Mirror. “Development could not become an agenda throughout the campaign. Considering all these factors, the people I sent to Gujarat to conduct a survey gave me the feedback that BJP will not perform the way it did in the last election.”

Others in his party dismissed Kakade’s statement as his “personal opinion”.

Parliamentarian Amar Sable said, “People are very happy with how the party has been performing. Our PM is a son of the soil, and the people of Gujarat are very proud of him...I have campaigned in Gujarat and seen that its residents are happy with the work done by the BJP government.”

Kakade’s forecast is contrary to what exit polls suggest. An average of the exit polls predicted a win in 117 of the 182 seats for the BJP in the Gujarat Assembly and 64 for the Congress. Results of the elections are due on Monday.