New Delhi: I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders met on Saturday at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and claimed that the Opposition alliance together will get about 295 seats. Kharge asserted that the bloc arrived at the figure after feedback from people.
Addressing the media after about two-and-a-half-hour deliberations in the national capital, the Congress president said the leaders of the alliance dwelled upon a host of issues, including the precautions to be taken on the counting day on June 4. He said the Opposition bloc had instructed their workers not to leave the counting halls till all formalities are completed.
Dwelling on the poll prospect of the Opposition alliance on the day when the voting for the seventh and the last phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election concluded, Kharge said, “The I.N.D.I.A. bloc will get more than 295 seats. We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders."
"This is a survey of people. People have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put them out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality," the Congress president said. Targeting the BJP, he said, "They are trying to give a narrative through government exit polls and we want to tell the people the truth."
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: "After taking feedback from everywhere, we believe that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will win more than 295 seats, while the BJP will get around 220 seats. The NDA, meanwhile, will get around 235 seats. The I.N.D.I.A. bloc is moving forward to form a strong government."
Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav said: "The I.N.D.I.A. bloc is going to form the government. He (PM Narendra Modi) has gone to see the sea. He has his back towards the people, who are now against him."
"The results are in favour of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and the big thing is that the BJP is losing," he added.
CPM's Sitaram Yechury said a common minimum programme will be chalked out once the poll results are out and that will be the basis of the new government.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah has been calling up district magistrates and collectors and indulging in "blatant and brazen" intimidation. “The outgoing home minister has been calling up DMs/collectors. So far, he has spoken to 150 of them. This is blatant and brazen intimidation, showing how desperate the BJP is," he said in a post on X.
TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had already said they will not attend the meeting as polling was to take place in some Lok Sabha seats in the state. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti did not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.
Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Sharad Pawar, Mr Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Anil Desai, Sitaram Yechury, Mr Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, Champai Soren, Kalpana Soren, T.R. Baalu, Farooq Abdullah, D. Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Jitendra Awhad and Mukesh Sahani.
Congress leaders Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the meeting.
