New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday (June 4) declared that the 2024 Lok Sabha election was a mandate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the party, which had been reduced to virtual decimation since the ascent of the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2014, scripted a revival by almost doubling its tally in comparison to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party president Rahul Gandhi addressed a joint press conference in the national capital which was also attended by Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
“The election result that has come today is the result of the people. This is the victory of the people and democracy,” said Kharge.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
“This time the public has not given a clear majority to any one party (especially the ruling party). BJP sought votes in the name of one person and one face, but now it is clear that the mandate has gone against Narendra Modi. This is a political and moral loss for him. The person who was seeking votes on his name everywhere, this is a big loss for him. This is also a big loss for him morally.
“The Congress Party and our INDIA alliance fought the elections in a hostile environment. We fought the elections on issues related to the people. The people got connected to these issues and supported us. The kind of campaign Narendra Modi conducted will be remembered in history. The public understood the lies spread by Narendra Modi about the Congress manifesto.”
The BJP’s campaign led by Modi himself had focused on being highly communal and spreading misinformation around the Congress manifesto by targeting Indian Muslims and accusing the Congress of redistributing wealth and snatching rights of the SC/ST/OBC and giving it to the Muslims.
Kharge said that the elections showed that the BJP had “tried to capture the constitutional institutions illegally”.
“Then it used these institutions against the opposition parties. Those who came under pressure, joined them and those who did not, their party was broken or they were put in jail.”
“People were convinced that if BJP got another chance, the next attack would be on the constitution and democracy. It is a matter of happiness that now BJP will not be able to succeed in this conspiracy,” he said.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the Modi government first came to power, the Congress was reduced to 44 seats. In the 2019 elections, the grand old party which had remained the single dominant party in India for decades, once again managed to get only 52 seats.
Congress workers celebrating in Delhi. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
According to trends on Tuesday evening, the Congress in the 2024 elections has almost doubled its tally and is leading on 99 seats. The party’s performance in the 2024 elections was buoyed by the INDIA alliance, particularly in Uttar Pradesh – the state with the largest number of seats. The Congress in alliance with the Samajwadi Party handed the BJP its first defeat in the state which sends 80 MPs to parliament. The INDIA bloc appears to be securing 44, as opposed to the NDA’s 35 seats.
“Kamaal kar ke dikha diya UP ke janta ne (The people of Uttar Pradesh have been amazing),” said Rahul.
“I want to thank all the states but I want to specially thank UP for standing by the Congress and the INDIA alliance. The people of UP have voted to save the Constitution.”
Rahul said that the people of India have voted to protect the constitution and the mandate was an answer by the poor people of the country.
“This election was not fought by the INDIA alliance and the Congress Party against just one political party. We have fought this election against institutions like BJP, ED, CBI, because all these institutions have been threatened by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” he said.
Rahul thanked the leaders of the INDIA alliance and said that a decision on staking claim to form the government will be taken after a meeting with the alliance partners to be held on Wednesday.
“I cannot answer these questions before speaking to our alliance partners,” he said.
Rahul said that issues like unemployment, reservations and poverty are behind the election results.
“You must have seen Adani’s stocks.The people are directly relating stock market with Modi ji. The country has clearly said to Modi ji that we don’t want you. The country has unanimously and clearly stated that we don’t want Mr Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to be running the country. We don’t appreciate the way they have attempted to attack the constitution,” he said.
