Election Results 2024 highlights: Kharge says 'INDIA bloc will continue to fight BJP's fascist rule'

Election Results 2024 LIVE Updates: President's Media Division of Sri Lanka tweets "Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated PM Modi on the BJP-led NDA's electoral victory in a phone call. During the conversation, PM Modi invited President Wickremesinghe to his swearing-in ceremony which he accepted."

Samajwadi Party's winning candidate from Faizabad (Ayodhya) Awadhesh Prasad says, "This election has not been won by us but by the people of Ayodhya. Have they (BJP) brought Ram? These are not the people who have brought Ram, these are the people who do business in the name of Ram, all their secrets have been exposed. They are hypocrites...The Prime Minister himself wanted to contest the election from here but when he got reports that this seat is not safe, he withdrew his step."

"We discussed about the support we received during the election campaign. The result is against the Modi government. They are claiming to form the government, but the people have clearly said that they don't want the government that India faced over the last 10 years," says CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya after attending INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin leaves Delhi after joining a meeting with the INDIA bloc at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's home.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said addressing the public, "We thank the constituents of INDIA bloc and the people of India for the overwhelming support received by our alliance. The people's mandate has given befitting reply to BJP's politics of hate, corruption and deprivation. This a mandate in defence of the constitution of India, and against price rise, unemployment and crony capitalism and also to save democracy. INDIA bloc will continue to fight against the fascist rule of the BJP, led by Modi. We will take appropriate steps at appropriate times to realise people's desires not to be ruled by the BJP government and this is our decision and we will keep up the promises made to people."

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, speaking to the public, “We will take appropriate steps at appropriate times to respect people's mandate.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh leaves from the residence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge after attending the meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders

Leaders from various political parties attended the INDIA meeting on June 5th, 2024.

Among those present were Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi from the Indian National Congress (INC), along with K.C. Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule represented the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), while M.K. Stalin and T.R. Balu attended from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Other notable attendees included Akhilesh Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena (UBT), and Abhishek Banerjee from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). Additionally, representatives from various other parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) were also present.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray skips INDIA bloc meeting

"This is the first meeting of INDIA bloc after the elections. Whether the INDIA bloc should approach Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, it will be discussed during the meeting. I don't think we can form the government because we don't have the numbers," says Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan

At the INDIA bloc leaders' meeting in Delhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge says "We fought well, fought unitedly, fought resolutely. The INDIA Alliance welcomes all parties which share its fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble to our Constitution and to its many provisions for economic, social and political justice. The mandate is decisively against PM Modi, against him and the substance and style of his politics. It is a huge political loss for him personally apart from being a clear moral defeat as well. However, he is determined to subvert the will of the people."

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says, "PM Modi should take oath as soon as possible...I will distribute sweets on behalf of him..."

INDIA bloc leaders begin crucial deliberations on possibilities of government formation, reports PTI.

“First we will decide the importance of the results. We will consult with the alliance partners on how to move further... We have enough time. Let them (NDA) also try. So what if they (BJP) have come up as the single largest party?”

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, JMM MLA and wife of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren Kalpana Soren, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, hiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut, NCP-SCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived at Kharge's residence.

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP-RV, led by Chirag Paswan, was promised one position in the Union Cabinet. There was hope within the party that they might also receive a state minister position. "We've been promised one position. Having a minister of state would be a great addition," mentioned a source from the LJP-RV, preferring to remain anonymous.

Paswan declined to comment, stating that the decision about who will be in the Cabinet is entirely up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He reiterated his stance of not engaging in political bargaining and affirmed his support for Modi. Paswan, who has likened himself to Modi's "Hanuman", expressed gratitude to the public for the victory on all five seats contested by LJP-RV.

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The Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, who leads the Janata Dal (United), wants special benefits for Bihar like special category status and a national caste census. The party also wants five positions in the central government. Other NDA partners from Bihar, such as Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party and Jitin Ram Majhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, are asking for cabinet positions for their parties.

The NDA won 292 seats, with the BJP getting 240, which is 32 seats short of the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha. To form the government, the BJP needs to consider the demands of its alliance partners, especially from Bihar, which has a total of 18 seats (12 for JD(U), 5 for LJP, and 1 for HAM).

Nitish Kumar, Paswan, and Majhi went to Delhi for an NDA meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The JD(U) wants important portfolios like railways, rural development, and water resources in the central government to bring projects to Bihar and boost infrastructure development, which has seen significant progress during CM Kumar's tenure.

Some JD(U) leaders also mentioned that the CM is eager for early assembly elections in Bihar to capitalize on the favorable environment for the JD(U) and NDA, considering they won 30 seats together.

The NDA meeting held on Wednesday to decide the next steps ended around 5:30pm.

Congress' newly elected MP from Haryana's Rohtak seat Deepender Singh Hooda said, "Haryana has got the highest percentage of votes among all the votes received by the INDIA alliance in the whole country. We have got 47.6% votes in Haryana... Congress has got a lead in 46 assembly constituencies of Haryana, which makes it clear that the results of the assembly elections to be held in the state in the coming days will be in Congress's favour ..."

Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma said, speaking about his win from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, "This is the win of people of Amethi and Gandhi family. There is no revenge in politics, somebody wins, somebody loses, we have sportsman attitude. Rahul Gandhi answered about the attacks on me."

Former Bihar CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi says, "We are in favour of Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India for the third time... All of us together want him to become the Prime Minister of India. We will choose him as our leader..."