The Aryavarth Express
New Delhi (Agency): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praised the people of Uttar Pradesh for their unexpected support in the Lok Sabha elections, where the INDIA bloc performed strongly, contrary to exit poll predictions.
According to the latest data from the Election Commission of India (ECI), the INDIA bloc is leading in 44 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party is ahead in 38 seats, while the Congress is leading in 6 seats.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Rahul Gandhi said, “UP ki janta ne kamaal karke dikha diya…The people of UP understood the politics of the country and the danger to the Constitution, and they safeguarded the Constitution. I want to thank all the states but I would especially thank Uttar Pradesh. I thank them for supporting the Congress party and the INDIA alliance.”
Gandhi emphasized the importance of consulting with alliance partners, stating, “We are going to have a meeting with our INDIA alliance partners tomorrow…we respect our alliance partners and we won’t make statements to the press without asking them.”
He further noted that the party and the INDIA bloc fought against not just the BJP but also against various institutions, including intelligence agencies and parts of the judiciary, which he claimed were being manipulated by Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.
“We fought this election not just against BJP but also the institutions, the governance structure of the country, the intelligence agencies CBI and ED, half of the judiciary because all these institutions were captured and threatened by Amit Shah and Narendra Modi ji,” Gandhi said.
He added, “The fight was to save the Constitution. When they seized our bank account and put Chief Ministers in jail, broke parties, it was in my mind that the people of India would come together to fight for their Constitution.”
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossed the majority mark and is leading in around 300 seats, while the INDIA bloc is leading in over 230 seats, defying predictions.
Earlier, Congress leader Pawan Khera mentioned that the party is targeting 295 seats for the INDIA bloc and expressed concerns about delays in the results being uploaded on the Election Commission website.
“We are keeping the same target (of 295 seats), if everything goes well then we will reach 295…Why are the results not being uploaded on time on the Election Commission website?… We are confident that we will be in a position to form the government,” Khera told ANI.