A meeting of I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders began on Wednesday at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi to discuss post-election strategies. Several leaders from the I.N.D.I.A bloc arrived to attend the meeting.
During the meeting, Kharge lashed out at Modi saying that despite a clear moral defeat, PM Modi is determined to undermine the will of the people.
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were also a part of the meeting. Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, along with his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav, arrived at Kharge's residence to deliberate a strategy for forming the central government.
Other important figures included Congress leader KC Venugopal, Kalpana Soren (JMM MLA and wife of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren), and Revolutionary Socialist Party leader NK Premachandran. Congress workers also chanted slogans in favour of Rahul Gandhi outside Kharge's residence.
Before commencing the meeting, Jharkhand CM Champai Soren said, "We will decide our strategy as an alliance. Let the meeting begin."
PM Modi's Magic Has Finished And He Is Far From Majority: Tejashwi
AAP MP Raghav Chaddha and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were seen at the venue. "NDA has numbers but we want the government which will be formed to take care of Bihar and ensure that it gets special status. It is a good opportunity for Nitish Kumar if he is the kingmaker, he should make sure that Bihar gets a special status and conduct caste-based census in the entire country. For the first time, we have seen that PM Modi's magic has finished and he is far from the majority. He will not be able to run the government without two of his allies," Tejashwi Yadav said, ANI quoted saying.
AAP leader Raghav Chaddha highlighted, "A meeting has been called at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence. We will have a detailed discussion on the results of the Lok Sabha elections and we will decide our strategy as to how this alliance will move forward."
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP (SCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, and leader Supriya Sule also arrived at the venue for the meeting. Yechury said, "First we will decide the importance of the results. We will consult with the alliance partners on how to move further. We have enough time. Let them (NDA) also try. So what if they (BJP) have come up as the single largest party?"
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has also arrived for the meeting.
Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, reached for an alliance meeting and said, "We had decided on June 1 to meet today after the election results. This is a pre-decided meeting."
As per the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, significantly fewer than its 2019 tally of 303. The Congress saw a substantial increase, winning 99 seats. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured 292 seats, while the I.N.D.I.A bloc exceeded 230 seats, offering a strong challenge and defying expectations.