Congress will win 10 seats in Telangana, says Revanth Reddy; ‘No faith in exit polls’, adds DK Shivakumar

In the north, we will maintain our tally in MP, Rajasthan…In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our tally. In Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh…we will maintain our tally.

In West Bengal, we will get 30+ seats. We had 18 seats, and therefore we will be nearly doubling our… pic.twitter.com/DmXaRTnU8L

— BJP Madhya Pradesh (@BJP4MP) May 31, 2024

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he has no faith in exit polls and predicted that the Congress will cross double digits in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, but refrained from giving any figures.

The party leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President had been claiming that the party will win 15-20 out of 28 seats in the state.

Also Read: TDP-led Jana Sena, BJP alliance set to sweep Andhra: exit poll

‘At least 10 seats for Congress’

“While the BJP is claiming to win four-five seats, the BRS may not get more than one and the AIMIM would retain the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. The remaining seats, at least 10, would go to the Congress,” said Revanth Reddy, who is also Telangana Congress president.

He said that the INDIA bloc would win big in the southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

He also exuded confidence that the alliance would form a government and Rahul Gandhi would become prime minister. The BJP may not get more than 240 seats, he said.

Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government did not do anything substantial for the state during the last 10 years, the chief minister said he would make efforts to see that crucial portfolios in the Union Cabinet are allotted to Telangana if the INDI Alliance forms a government.

He said it was the late S Jaipal Reddy who got the metro rail project to Hyderabad when he was a Union minister.

With the state government having invited Sonia Gandhi for the state formation day celebrations to be held on Sunday, he said there would be a message from the former Congress president if she is not able to attend the event due to health reasons.

The Telangana people want the presence of Sonia Gandhi, he said.

The Congress government has planned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of state formation on Sunday on a grand scale.

‘Not reviewed phone tapping probe’

On the ongoing probe by police into alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS regime, he said he had not held any review on the issue owing to the poll code.

An ex-police official, who is arrested in connection with the probe into the phone-tapping issue, has claimed in his confession statement that former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao wanted to use the “BRS MLAs” poaching case to force BJP into a compromise to get rid of the ED case against his daughter and MLC K Kavitha.

On the Opposition BRS objecting to the Congress government’s alleged move to remove Charminar and the ‘arch of Kakatiya dyanasty’ from the state emblem, he said a decision would be taken after a debate in the Assembly.

Asked about allegations by the BRS over power disruptions and shortages in the state, he said there is no inconvenience to people and that he is ready for an audit on the matter if BRS wants it.

Revanth Reddy also asserted that there is no shortage of seeds for farmers ahead of the crop season.

He said district Collectors are now checking at the ground level on the availability of seeds, adding that various law enforcement agencies are now functioning effectively, carrying out raids, which is unprecedented.

Also Read: Karnataka court grants bail to Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar in defamation case

‘No faith in exit polls’

Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru that he did not trust the exit polls.

“I have said that I have no faith in the exit polls. Today also, I’m saying the same thing. Someone called me just now saying that they (channels) are showing that we will get only two or three or four seats in Karnataka. We will get more than double digits, wait and see,” Shivakumar said.

He said, “I have no faith in exit polls and their assessment, as they don’t go interior. They would have done it based on some sample size, I don’t believe in it. The INDIA bloc is ready to take over the mantles.”

Early exit polls predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP-led NDA, with the ruling alliance projected to open its account in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and sweep Karnataka.

The then-ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance had come a cropper, winning just one seat each in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, while the BJP had swept, by winning 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, and had ensured the win of a party-supported independent candidate in Mandya.

The JD(S) this time is in alliance with BJP, which has given the regional party three seats — Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.

The counting of votes will take place on 4 June.

(With PTI inputs)