A day after exit polls predicted a hat-trick win for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Sunday sought to counter the prediction by getting its state unit chiefs and legislature party leaders to present their estimate of the number of seats the party could win in these polls.
In an online meeting moderated by Jairam Ramesh, the AICC General Secretary in-charge of Communications, PCC chiefs and CLP leaders from several states presented their calculation of how many seats the party and the alliance was expected to get.
The party has rubbished the exit polls as “sarkari survey”. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi reiterated that the INDIA alliance would get at least 295 seats, belying the exit polls done by what he termed as “Modi media”.
Significantly, since poll surveys showed the BJP holding on to its dominance in Karnataka, the state PCC chief and deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said at the meeting, which was open to the media, that the Congress would win two-thirds of the 28 seats in the state, or around 18 seats.
Rajasthan PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara said the Congress and its allies were expected to win 11-12 seats. He also said that eight other seats are expected to see a tight contest.
According to Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, the party is expected to win 16 seats and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi would win 40 seats. At the INDIA alliance meeting yesterday, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar said he expected the alliance to win around 26 seats. Some Congress leaders have said the alliance could win around 33 seats.
Bihar Congress President Akhilesh Prasad Singh said at the meeting that the party could win 6-7 seats, and the alliance could win around 20 seats.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said the four seats in the hill state witnessed a close fight, but the Congress was ahead in two of them. He also claimed that Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur could lose.
Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of opposition in Punjab, said the BJP will not win a single seat in the state. His assessment is that the Congress will win nine seats, and the AAP will get one.
UP Congress President Ajay Rai did not divulge any numbers, but said he expected the INDIA alliance to register a big victory in the state. Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan said the Congress will win majority of the ten seats on offer in the state.
Presenting the assessment for Gujarat, state Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil said the party could win four to five seats. He also said the AAP was engaged in a close contest with the BJP in Bharuch and Bhavnagar.
Assam Congress President Bhupen Bora said the party could win seven seats in the state and spoke about growing unrest within the state BJP with regard to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
