LS POLLS

Sit in the oppn or stake claim for govt? INDIA alliance to meet tomorrow, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance will decide on Wednesday whether it should sit in the opposition or stake claim to form the government.

He was addressing the media after the alliance did an impressive show in the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday. He said a meeting of the alliance partners has been called to discuss the future course of action.

Accusing PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of capturing Constitutional institutions and threatening them, Rahul said the people have unanimously stated that "we do not want Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to run the country”. "This is a clear message from the people to Modi that we don't appreciate the way you run the country,” he said.

Holding a copy of the Constitution like he did during the campaign, Rahul said the country's poorest people have done the job of safeguarding the Constitution. “People from most disadvantaged sections of the society came together to keep the Constitution intact. While many stayed away from the fight, poor people, the farmers, Adivasis and workers stood behind our coalition and the Congress. This is their victory,” he said.

As the results of the seven-phase polls were declared, the BJP was poised to be the single largest party but could be well short of an absolute majority, leaving it dependent on its NDA partners to form government, while the opposition INDIA bloc appeared set to be a formidable force.

He thanked all the people who stood with him in the fight on behalf of the Congress and India bloc.

Gandhi said the Congress would stand behind its guarantees -- caste census and the Mahalakshmi scheme -- and would strive to implement them. "These are our promises to the people of India and we will implement them," he said.

Commenting further on the party manifesto, Gandhi said that the Congress had given a clear vision for the future of India. "We have given a vision for the future... pro-poor, pro-production."

Signifying a shift in the dominance of single-party rule and back to coalition politics, the BJP was ahead or had won in 246 seats, well below the magic number of 272 in the house of 543. The NDA number was 300. At the other end of the spectrum, the INDIA bloc was ahead in 227 seats with the Congress leading or winning in 96 seats, almost double its 2019 score.
In the last elections, the BJP had 303 seats on its own, while NDA had over 350.