New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): As the Lok Sabha election count draws to a close nationwide and the INDI alliance emerges victorious in several significant Hindi heartland states, Congress leader Rajeev Shukla aimed a barb at the BJP-led NDA, saying that the people have rejected them.
"This is a good result, and for those (the BJP) claiming to get 400 seats, their claim has fallen flat. The BJP has not got an absolute majority. They don't have any moral right to form a government. People have rejected them. This is a big victory (for INDI alliance)," Shukla told ANI.
When asked about getting in touch with other members of the alliance, Shukla said a meeting has been scheduled by the party for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Congress party welcomed the results of the Lok Sabha elections and termed it the "political and moral defeat" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose name the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign was run.
This comes after the BJP failed to cross the majority mark on its own. According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP is currently ahead by 239 seats. But the overall tally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is close to 300. The majority mark is 272.
Notably, most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite a few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led NDA.
Rahul Gandhi won the seat of Rae Bareli by defeating BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of 3,90,030 votes. Gandhi had contested this seat aiming to save the lone bastion of the party in the state after he lost Amethi in 2019.
The Congress leader also won the seat of Wayanad, which paved his entry to the Lok Sabha in 2019. He defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Annie Raja by 3,64,422 votes.
The Congress party will hold discussions with its allies as well as new partners on Wednesday, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
He said that the "fight" is not over, and they will continue to work for people's rights and protection of the Constitution and democracy. (ANI)
