The I.N.D.I. Alliance is preparing to hold protests and demonstrations and “take other options” if the Lok Sabha election results do not come as per their expectations, news agency ANI has reported citing Congress sources. The development comes a day ahead of the counting of votes and announcement of election results. Notably, in an earlier meeting held on 1st June, I.N.D.I. Alliance leaders had claimed that they would secure more than 295 seats and form the next government.
According to ANI, the Congress party has asked all the senior leaders of the I.N.D.I. Alliance to stay in Delhi till the morning of 5th June. Congress sources stated the alliance leaders will hold a meeting after the announcement of the election results and if they secure fewer seats than their expectations, they will take other options, expressing distrust in the democratic process and an apparent warning that undermines and challenges people’s mandate.
According to the Sources, if the opposition doesn’t get the expected results, they will raise questions on the Election Commission, a Constitutional body.
“All senior leaders of the INDIA alliance have been called by Congress to stay in Delhi till tomorrow night or day after tomorrow morning. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has also taken a positive stand on this. A meeting will be held after the election results. If the number of seats does not come as per expectations and assessment, then other options including demonstration/press conference/meeting with the President will be discussed where questions can be raised on the role of the Election Commission,” Congress Sources said as quoted by ANI.
All senior leaders of the INDIA alliance have been called by Congress to stay in Delhi till tomorrow night or day after tomorrow morning. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has also taken a positive stand on this. A meeting will be held after the election results. If the number of…
— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2024
Following the ANI report, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh issued a clarification. He said that they will obviously hold a meeting after the election results are announced and claimed that attributing any meaning to the said meeting is completely “misleading and false”.
Earlier on Sunday, the I.N.D.I. Alliance delegation led by Congress leader and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi met the full bench of the Election Commission. The opposition bloc demanded that the poll body follow the strict rules prescribed for the vote counting and urged to preferentially count postal ballots over EVMs. Other I.N.D.I. Alliance leaders including Salman Khurshid, D Raja, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Nassir Hussain, and Sitaram Yechuri were also part of the delegation.
It was earlier reported that around 120 organisations, opposition parties, activists, and Congress, left-leaning journalists were planning to create tensions ahead of election results and conspiring to get the polls cancelled by the court if BJP registered an electoral victory.
During the election campaign, Congress leader and former party President, Rahul Gandhi had once threatened that the whole country would be on fire if the BJP won the Lok Sabha elections and it amended the constitution. It is pertinent to note that Parliament has amended the Constitution over 100 times, the process of which is duly established in the Constitution itself under Article 368. However, the opposition bloc has peddled blatant lies during campaigning that the BJP would change the constitution and abolish reservations, a false and inflammatory claim.
