"Family party will say Kharge created this mess": Hardeep Puri confident of Congress debacle in LS polls

New Delhi [India], June 1 (ANI): Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said that the Congress will put the entire blame on their party president Mallikarjun Kharge for their defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Hardeep Singh Puri said that the INDIA bloc is a make-believe alliance and has come out with a "delusional" figure of winning 295 seats.

"This alliance is a make-believe alliance. Today they gave a delusional figure of 295. On June 4, actual results will be out and Rahul Ji will go to Europe. PM Modi's guarantee has become a hit and their figures will be a flop. The family party will say that Kharge Ji is the president and he has created all the mess and he will be changed," Puri told ANI.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is poised to retain power at the Centre with a thumping majority and register its third straight win in the Lok Sabha polls, exit polls predicted on Saturday.

The exit polls predicted that the ruling BJP-led NDA is poised to improve its performance over its 2019 record when it won 352 seats. Two exit polls predicted the BJP also improving its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP-led NDA improved its numbers in 2019 Lok Sabha polls compared to the 2014 election. It is again poised for an upward trajectory, the exit polls predicted. The pollsters gave varying numbers to the INDIA bloc, a grouping of parties opposed to the BJP, but predicted that it will perform better than the Congress-led UPA in 2019.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that the opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc will register victory on more than 295 seats in the Lok Sabha polls adding that the Prime Ministerial candidate from the alliance will be decided on June 4.

"INDIA alliance is getting 295 plus seats, the BJP will win around 220 seats and the NDA alliance will 235 seats. INDIA alliance will form a strong and stable government on its own. (The PM face) will be decided on June 4," Arvind Kejriwal told reporters in Delhi.

Following the meeting with INDIA bloc parties, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge exuded confidence that the Opposition alliance will win more than 295 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Kharge, along with other opposition leaders posed for photographs following the meeting on Saturday.

"INDIA bloc will win at least 295 seats in the elections. It will be over that, but not less. We have analyzed this after discussing it with all the leaders, and there is no doubt about the number. This is people's survey, based on the information given by people," Kharge said. (ANI)