New Delhi. Congress leaders on Sunday expressed confidence that the party will perform much better than the exit poll estimates in states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and asserted that the next government will be formed by ‘India’. This was said by Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh during an ‘online interaction’ with prominent leaders of various states, state Congress committee presidents and legislative party leaders in the presence of the media.
During a Zoom call with Ramesh, Assam Congress chief Bhupen Bora said his party would win at least seven seats in the state. He said the alleged internal strife in the BJP and the ‘India’ influence have benefited the Congress. Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Pratap Singh Bajwa said all surveys have given 7-9 seats to the Congress.
He said, “We are leading in nine seats, one seat will go to Aam Aadmi Party and three seats will go to candidates who will not help NDA or the Prime Minister in any way. ‘India’ will get at least 10 seats… In Punjab, NDA is not going to get a single seat.” Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that Congress is leading in two parliamentary seats and there is a tough fight in two other seats in the hill state. He expressed confidence that Congress will also win the six assembly seats where by-elections are being held.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said his party will win at least two-thirds of the 28 seats due to the popularity of the guarantees fulfilled by the Congress after coming to power in the state. Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh said his party will definitely win 6-7 of the nine seats it contested in the state.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, Haryana state unit chief Uday Bhan, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai also spoke during this period and expressed confidence of a much better performance than the exit poll estimates in their respective states.
This unusual interaction before the media came a day after exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi will retain power for the third consecutive term and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to win a landslide majority in the Lok Sabha elections.
All the state leaders who spoke in the digital dialogue dismissed the exit polls as part of a psychological game being played by the BJP to “demoralise Congress workers”. Criticising the exit polls, Ramesh said the exit polls were completely fake and a deliberate attempt to justify rigging of elections. He said all this was part of a “psychological game” being played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demoralise the workers of the opposition alliance ‘India’. The results of the Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4.