INDIA bloc to get over 295 seats: Kharge after alliance meeting

Congress leaders Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal were also present at the meeting.

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 after a meeting of top leaders of the opposition bloc at his residence, 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.