INDIA bloc leaders meet in show of unity as countdown to results begins; claim bloc winning 295+

NEW DELHI: Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met here on Saturday and took stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and asserted they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.

Addressing the media after two-and-a-half-hour confabulations at his residence, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the INDIA bloc has arrived at the 295-plus figure after feedback from people, which he termed "people's survey".

He said the leaders of the alliance dwelt on a host of issues, including the precautions to be taken on the counting day on Tuesday. He said they have instructed their party workers to not leave the counting halls till all formalities are completed.

He said the opposition parties have sought time from the Election Commission on Sunday to raise their concerns and urge the poll body to address them soon.

The meeting began at Kharge's residence this afternoon as voting in the last phase of the seven-phase general elections were underway for 57 seats. The voting ended at 6 PM. The counting of votes for all the phases will be held on June 4.

"The INDIA bloc will get more than 295 seats. We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders," Kharge told reporters. "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 it out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality."

Some opposition leaders said the BJP would be happy Saturday evening, when Exit Poll results are released, while they would be happy on June 4, when the official results will be declared.

Targeting the BJP, Kharge said, "They are trying to give a narrative through government exit polls and we want to tell the people the truth."

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the meeting.

Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), CPI, DMK, JMM, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) were also represented at the meeting.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had already said she would not attend the meeting as polling was to take place in some Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti did not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.

Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Anil Desai, Sitaram Yechury, Arvind 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 attended the meeting.

Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties met informally to take stock of the preparations leading up to the counting day.

The INDIA bloc parties have also given instructions to their workers about Form 17 C -- which contains the details of votes polled at booths, he said.

"The fight is still not over, and the leaders and workers of all the parties are extremely alert. I thank each one of them for their esteemed presence," he said. "We have fought the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 with all our might and are confident of a positive outcome, as the people of India have supported us," he said in a post on X.

NCP president Sharad Pawar said the meeting brought together leaders and dignitaries from various INDIA bloc parties, fostering a spirit of collaboration and unity. Kejriwal said that based on feedback from everywhere "we believe that the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats, while the BJP will get around 220 seats. The NDA, meanwhile, will get around 235 seats."

Akhilesh Yadav said, "The INDIA bloc is going to form the government. He (PM) has gone to see the sea and he has his back towards the people, who are now against him".

Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Champai Soren said, "We (INDIA bloc) will do very well in Jharkhand and win more than 10 seats. The INDIA bloc is winning 295 seats."

"The people are winning, and INDIA will win. We have been saying that we will get 295-plus seats," said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Asked about who would be their PM candidate, he said, "We will decide about the rest together after June 4".

DMK leader T R Baalu said the DMK and Congress will together win all the 40 seats from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. "There is no second opinion in this; it is a foregone conclusion by the public."

CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury said a common minimum programme will be chalked out once the numbers come and that will be the basis of the new government.

CPI leader D Raja said all INDIA bloc leaders discussed how to face the narrative of exit polls. "The leaders have made it very clear, the INDIA bloc is very confident, very optimistic about its victory. The verdict of the people will be in favour of INDIA bloc and INDIA bloc will be far ahead of BJP and NDA," Raja said.

After the meeting, Congress' K C Venugopal said, "All of us are confident that INDIA will form a government with a thumping majority and June 4th will begin a new chapter of our democracy where the Constitution will be safeguarded."

Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc parties also announced they will participate in exit poll debates this evening after the grouping's top leaders deliberated on the issue.

It came a day after the Congress said it won't participate in exit poll debates as it did not want to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRP.