Country doesn’t want Modi-Shah to run it, says Rahul Gandhi after Lok Sabha poll results

He said INDIA bloc will meet and decide whether to approach former partners such as the JD(U) and the TDP to attempt government formation.

ByPTI

Published Jun 04, 2024 | 7:11 PM Updated Jun 04, 2024 | 10:29 PM

Rahul Gandhi. (X)

The INDIA bloc will meet and decide on Wednesday, 4 May, whether to approach former partners such as the JD(U) and the TDP to attempt government formation at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.

“We are going to have a meeting with our partners tomorrow. These questions will be raised and answered there,” Gandhi told a press conference in New Delhi when asked if the Congress and its allies would approach parties that are part of the NDA to try and form a government.

He was addressing the press conference with senior Congress leaders as the Lok Sabha poll results and trends showed the BJP was set to become the single-largest party but would fall short of the magic figure of 272.

Also Read: ‘Friends in need’ for BJP, YSRCP and BJD bite the dust at the hands of saffron party and allies

‘Our alliance will decide’

“We won’t say anything without asking the opinion of our allies. Our alliance will decide tomorrow and whatever they decide we will act on that,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said the general election was a fight to save the Constitution.

“It was on my mind that the people of this country would rally together to save the Constitution. The first and biggest step towards saving the Constitution has been taken,” he said, adding that it was the poor and the marginalised who stood up.

“India’s poorest and backwards stood up to save the Constitution,” he said.

He added that the Congress and the INDIA bloc have given India a new vision, a pro-poor vision.

Also Read: Priyanka Gandhi: Congress’ talisman who countered PM Modi in Lok Sabha polls

‘We fought as one’

“The main thing this election has said, the country has said, is that we don’t want Narendra Modi, Amit Shah to be running this country,” he said.

He said all Congress leaders respected INDIA bloc allies and wherever the alliance fought “we fought as one”.

Gandhi offered special thanks to the electorate of Uttar Pradesh for supporting the Congress and “protecting” the Constitution.

When asked if he would keep the Wayanad or Rae Bareli seat, Gandhi said he has not taken a decision yet.

On Congress candidate KL Sharma wresting the Amethi seat from the BJP’s Smriti Irani, Gandhi said the party loyalist had been working in the constituency for the past 40 years and his victory was certain.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)