Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the BJP will not surpass the 200-seat mark in the Lok Sabha elections, while the opposition INDIA bloc is poised to secure over 300 seats. He also asserted that there is a growing undercurrent of discontent against the Narendra Modi government.
Speaking at a rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) ground, attended by allies Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticized Prime Minister Modi for neglecting employment generation and failing to control inflation.
He alleged that Modi's agenda is to keep the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes poor and backward, and to deny them reservation. Uddhav Thackeray stated that Modi will no longer be prime minister after June 4, when the votes are counted.
“Modi will not cross 200 seats this time and INDIA alliance will cross 300 seats. I have travelled to every state and there is an undercurrent. Modi is scared and speaking out of fear,” Kharge said at the mega gathering that came ahead of the May 20 polling for the remaining 13 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra including six in Mumbai.
Kharge said he laughed when PM Modi claimed that the Congress would take away one buffalo if someone had two, by imposing an inheritance tax. He added that a prime minister should speak like a statesman. Responding to Modi's criticism of past Congress governments, Kharge stated that it was due to his party’s efforts to preserve democracy that Modi became prime minister. He vowed that the INDIA alliance would protect the Constitution.