A tale of two INDIAs: One springs a surprise, the other keeps BJP below halfway mark
INDIA bloc defied the ruling party’s disparaging characterisation of the coalition as a ramshackle grouping of unelectable parties with a striking poll performance — especially in the key state of Uttar Pradesh — that prevented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from achieving a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own. The Congress led INDIA with a tally of 99 seats, followed by the Samajwadi Party (37), the Trinamool Congress (29) and others, taking the coalition’s number to 234, bringing it the closest it has been to the prospect of power in a decade, faring much better than exit poll figures on Saturday and triggering a plunge in the stock market, which had been expecting the BJP to do much better.
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“The nation has clearly said they don’t want (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi,” Rahul Gandhi of the Congress said at a press conference on Tuesday evening, holding up a copy of the Indian Constitution, much as he’s done during his campaign speeches. “The country has unanimously and clearly stated that we don’t want Mr Modi and Mr Amit Shah (the home minister) being involved in running of this country. We don’t like the way they run the country and we don’t like the way they attacked the Constitution.”
Still, both he and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were careful to say that any decision on INDIA’s strategy would only be taken after consulting other members of the coalition at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
