PM Modi predicts crushing defeat for Congress in Lok Sabha Elections: 'Going to lose so badly that…'

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Modi claimed that Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena would merge with Congress, along with "all the small parties in Maharashtra." “It is certain that ‘fake Shiv Sena’ and ‘fake Nationalist Party’, will merge with Congress. When this ‘fake Shiv Sena’ will merge with Congress, I will remember Bala Saheb Thackeray the most, because Bala Saheb also used to say that the day he felt that Shiv Sena has become Congress, that day he will end Shiv Sena, meaning that now there will be no trace of fake Shiv Sena," PM Modi said.

Meanwhile, a local functionary of the Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has resigned in protest after being denied a spot on stage at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally. Arvind More, who oversees the party unit in the Kalyan-Murbad assembly constituency in Thane district, told PTI on Wednesday that he had resigned from his position.

In Phase 5 of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, six constituencies in Mumbai will go to the polls, including Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South, and Mumbai South Central." The other constituencies of Maharashtra that will be part of the ongoing election in the fifth phase include Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi and Thane. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats. The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four.