INDIA bloc to get over 295 seats: Kharge after alliance meeting
New Delhi, Jun 1: INDIA bloc parties will get more than 295 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday, asserting that they had arrived at the figure after feedback from people.
Addressing reporters here after a meeting of top leaders of the opposition bloc at his residence here, Kharge said the leaders of the alliance met for about two and a half hours and discussed a host of issues, especially the precautions to be taken on counting day and the instructions they have to give to their parties' workers.
Votes for the seven-phase general elections will be counted on June 4.
Targeting the BJP, he said, "They are trying to give a narrative through government exit polls and we want to tell the people the truth."
"The INDIA bloc will get more than 295 seats. We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders," Kharge said.
"This is a survey of the people. The people have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put it out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality," the Congress president said.
INDIA bloc parties have also given instructions to their workers about Form 17 C and not to get out of the counting hall till he or she gets the certificate of election, he said.
Senior leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), CPI, DMK, JMM, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) met at Kharge's residence on Saturday afternoon and held discussions, even as the last phase of polling was underway.
TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already said they would not attend the meeting as there were elections in the state. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti did not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.
Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Anil Desai, Sitaram Yechury, Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, Champai Soren, Kalpana Soren, T R Baalu, Farooq Abdullah, D Raja and Mukesh Sahani.
Congress leaders Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal were also present at the meeting.
𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟗𝟓+ 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 🇮🇳 ✌️ pic.twitter.com/CXMHl4t66Z
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 1, 2024
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Bihar: Retired IPS officer Acharya Kishore Kunal dies
Patna (PTI): Retired IPS officer Acharya Kishore Kunal died of cardiac arrest in Patna on Sunday, his family said.
An IPS officer of the 1972 batch, he was the chief of the Bihar State Board of Religious Trust (BSBRT).
Kunal, 74, suffered cardiac arrest in the morning and was immediately taken to a hospital where he passed away, his family said.
He was also the secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, which runs several hospitals in the state.
Condoling his death, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said his life was dedicated to social service, religious and cultural upliftment.
"He gave Mahavir Mandir a national identity and did unprecedented work for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society. His contribution is difficult to express in words. His demise is an irreparable loss to society. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and strength to his family to bear this grief," Choudhary said.
