After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to recreate its landslide victory in the previous Lok Sabha Elections this time, the senior Congress P Chidambaram on Tuesday called it a “resounding defeat” for the saffron party. The Rajya Sabha MP also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “step down from the leadership”.
“In the best traditions of a parliamentary democracy, the prime minister who led his party to a defeat must step down from the leadership. 240 seats (or so) won by the BJP is a resounding defeat for the party which went into the election with 303 seats and set for itself a target of 370 seats. Mr Narendra Modi has forfeited his right to form a government,” P Chidambaram wrote on X.
Senior Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi took a press conference on Tuesday evening. The leaders said that the INDIA bloc allies would meet on Wednesday and take a call on its future course of action.
Asked if the Congress and its allies will approach parties like JDU and TDP, which have been with them in the past but are now part of the NDA, in trying to form a government, he said, “We are going to have a meeting with our partners tomorrow. These questions will be raised and answered there.”
“We won’t say anything without seeking the opinion of our allies. Our alliance will decide tomorrow and whatever they decide we will act on that,” Rahul Gandhi said when prodded further.
Kharge, when asked about the INDIA bloc’s possibility of government formation, said, “As long as we do not talk to alliance partners, and the new partners who may join, how can we say that? If I reveal all strategies here, Modi ji will become alert.”
(More to come)
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Published: 05 Jun 2024, 07:04 AM IST