New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday predicted a tally fewer than 2019's for the Congress, citing party leader Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from a second seat — Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, after also contesting Wayanad in Kerala which he represents in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
The Congress had won 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 52 in 2019, not enough to secure a leader of opposition post which requires a party to win at least 10 per cent seats of the house. The current Lok Sabha has 543 MPs.
Congress set for even lower tally
There's no need for opinion or exit poll. The result is clear. The Congress will have fewer seats this time than it won in 2019. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Mocking Rahul for not contesting from Amethi where BJP's Smriti Irani defeated him in 2019 (Smriti has been re-nominated from Amethi), the PM used Rahul's own words to attack him.
“Today I also want to say ‘daro mat, bhaago mat' (don't be scared, don't run away)… Experts are still speculating about the election outcomes, but there's no need for opinion or exit polls. The result is clear,” said Modi in Bengal's Bolpur.
He recalled his prediction that a Congress stalwart (read Sonia Gandhi) would opt for the Rajya Sabha fearing defeat. “This is what happened. Similarly, I had said the shehzada (read Rahul) will seek another seat fearing loss in Wayanad. Now, he has fled Amethi for Raebareli. The Congress will have fewer seats this time. It is becoming evident that they're contesting just to win and divide the country,” he said.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur also attacked Rahul, saying a while ago he used to say do not fear. “But his own fear took him from Amethi to Wayanad in 2019 and from Wayanad to Raebareli in 2024,” he said. UP Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak said the people of Raebareli would not accept rahul.
“The BJP will win the Raebareli and Amethi seats with huge margins,” Pathak said a day after BJP fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh, a state minister, from Raebareli.
In 2019, Singh had lost to Sonia. Earlier speaking at rallies in Bengal's Bardhaman, Krishnanagar and Bolpur, the PM attacked the Congress over its inheritance tax view, saying, “All of the families involved in the current political game, including the Congress royal family, the TMC family and the Left family, are tacitly endorsing vote jihad plea by remaining silent.”
