Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday informed that the Opposition INDIA bloc would decide on its Prime Minister candidate today adding that the alliance was formed to end the dictatorship in the country and save the Constitution.
He also accused the BJP government of harassing Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, ahead of a scheduled meeting of the INDIA alliance on Wednesday.
"The day our INDIA alliance was formed, we had decided that we wanted to end the dictatorship in the country and save the Constitution. We will decide on the PM candidate tomorrow. All patriots and all people who are harassed by them (BJP) will come with us. Chandrababu has also been harassed by the BJP govt," Mr Thackeray said.
His statement comes after the Maharashtra battle saw a tight contest in many seats with BJP facing unexpected losses in Maharashtra, winning only 17 seats despite expecting over 45, and Congress having a remarkable renaissance to emerge as the single-largest party in the State by leading on 13 constituencies.
Echoing his sentiments, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray highlighted the alliance's success stating that anti-constitutional forces and anti-democratic forces have no place in India.
"INDIA alliance has performed really well in Maharashtra and across the nation. We have shown that arrogance has no place in India. Anti-constitutional forces, anti-democratic forces have no place in India," Aaditya Thackeray said.
Anil Desai, the Uddhav Thackeray faction candidate from the Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha Constituency, added, "You have the figures in front of you. It was the will of the people which came today."
According to the Election Commission, in Maharashtra, the BJP has won eight seats and is leading on two.
Congress has secured the win on six seats and is leading on seven as per the latest ECI data.
Shiv Sena (UBT) has also won six seats and leads on three seats. NCP (Sharad Pawar) has won two seats and leads on five seats while his nephew Ajit Pawar's NCP faction has managed to win only one seat. Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena has won six seats and currently leads on one seat.
In the 2019 elections, BJP won 23 seats out of 25 it contested.
Shiv Sena won 18, NCP-4, Congress-1 and AIMIM bagged one seat.
According to the latest ECI trends, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is ahead in 293 seats, while the INDIA bloc is leading in 232 seats. The BJP won 239 seats and is leading in 1 seat and the Congress won 95 seats and is leading in 4 seats.
The BJP had won a majority on its own in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, securing 282 seats in 2014 and improving its tally to 303 seats in the 2019 elections.
Earlier in the day the Congress party thanked the people of India after the party improved its tally from the last elections and the INDIA bloc leading in over 230 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress posted a picture of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and former AICC president Sonia Gandhi, posing with the victory symbol. It was captioned "Dhanyavad Hindustan."
Votes will be counted tomorrow for Lok Sabha polls held in seven phases. Counting will also take place for assembly polls in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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