Lok Sabha election 2024 highlights: BJP's huddle at JP Nadda's house day before counting

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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s high command went into a huddle on Monday, a day before the votes for the Lok Sabha elections will be counted. Leaders of the party, which is hoping for a third term in office, remained tight-lipped about the meeting, which took place at the residence of party chief JP Nadda.

“If the number of seats does not come as per expectations and assessment, then other options including demonstration/press conference/meeting with the President will be discussed where questions can be raised on the role of the Election Commission,” ANI reported citing Congress Sources

The Congress has asked all senior INDIA leaders to come to Delhi by tomorrow night or by the day after tomorrow morning. A meeting will be held after the election results.

"We are going to discuss how these exit polls do not need any proof from anyone else but are proving themselves to be false and wrong. In this matter, I would like to thank all the agencies that have conducted the exit polls because they have exposed themselves before the country and made the public aware that they should not be trusted at all," Sanjay Singh said.

"This is because the exit polls themselves have made their predictions inaccurate and unreliable. This has happened for the first time in the electoral history of India and in the history of exit polls," said the AAP leader.

Shashi Tharoor termed the exit polls as laughable and said it is not possible for the BJP to win up to 7 seats in Kerala as predicted by the exit polls. "We are seeing it with skepticism and disbelief because we have also been campaigning throughout the country. We also have a sense of what the pulse of the people is and we don't believe it is reflected accurately in these polls. Our Congress president, after meeting all the INDIA bloc members, has said that he is convinced that we are getting about 295 for the alliance. I stick to that number," Tharoor told reporters on Monday.

BJP workers have been asked to gather at the party headquarters by 3pm. At least 50,000 workers are likely to show up.

On tomorrow's counting arrangements, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan says, “On 4th June, counting will take place for 29 parliamentary constituencies in 92 district headquarters starting 8 am...Given the prevailing heat conditions, drinking water arrangements and coolers have been installed in the counting centres….Tomorrow has been declared as a dry day….Three layers of security have been deployed in counting centres.”

About vote counting preparations for tomorrow, Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer BVRC Purushottam says, “Tomorrow at 8 am, we will start the counting of postal ballots, and by 8.30 am, EVM counting will start. In 8 districts EVM counting will start at 8 am. We have deployed 884 Assistant Returning Officers. Around 3 or 4 pm, the result of Uttarakhand will possibly come.”

Ahead of counting tomorrow, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale says, “We are confident of getting 400 seats...People have voted for development, in the name of PM Modi...INDIA Alliance is dreaming that they will get 295 seats. If they get 295 seats, I would like to ask who will be their PM. If it is someone among them who becomes the PM, I would be the first person to welcome them with a garland. If that doesn't happen, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should come to present a garland to Narendra Modi - I invite them.”

Regarding the Lok Sabha election results, Govind Singh Dotasara, Rajasthan Congress chief, said, “Exit polls are misleading, influenced by BJP and Modi ji. Over the past decade, the BJP hasn't achieved much. While BJP is seeking votes, it fails to articulate its vision.”

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Union minister Anurag Thakur, actor Kangana Ranaut, four-time RS MP Anand Sharma and sitting Public Works minister Vikramaditya Singh are the bigwigs to watch for in the four Lok Sabha and six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh where counting will be taken up on Tuesday.

While four-time MP and BJP candidate Thakur is seeking a fifth term from Hamirpur, the other party candidate Ranaut, who has entered the political arena for the first time, is trying her luck from Mandi. Former BJP state president Suresh Kashyap is contesting from Shimla.

Among the prominent Congress candidates are four-time Rajya Sabha MP Sharma from Kangra seat and scion of erstwhile Rampur estate Vikramaditya Singh, who is son of six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh and state Congress chief Pratibha Singh from Mandi seat.

All preparations for counting for two Lok Sabha constituencies - Tripura West and Tripura East - and Ramnagar Assembly segment byelection have been completed, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Puneet Agarwal said on Monday.

The counting will be held in 20 locations on June 4.

The voting for Tripura West Lok Sabha seat and Ramnagar Assembly segment byelection was held on April 16 while polling for Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency was conducted on April 26.

An average of 81.48 per cent voting was recorded in Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency while Tripura East registered 80.36 per cent polling.

CEC Rajiv Kumar says, "...We failed to understand the fake narratives that were going on during the elections. But we have understood it now."

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections counting, CEC Rajiv Kumar says, "Postal ballot counting will start first. After only half an hour, we will start EVM counting. There is no doubt about it."

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Monday said the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win around 450 Lok Sabha seats, more than the numbers predicted by the exit polls.

In a post on X, former Union minister Bharti also said that pilgrims from various states and seers whom she met in the last two-and-a-half months of her stay in the Himalayas only spoke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

While India Today-Axis My India has forecast 361-401 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 131-166 seats for the opposition INDIA bloc in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ABP-C Voter predicted 353-383 seats for the ruling alliance and 152-182 seats for the INDIA bloc.

On Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's allegations that Union HM called DMs/ROs (Returning Officers), CEC Rajiv Kumar says, "...Can someone influence them (DMs/ROs) all? Tell us who did this. We will punish the person who did it...It is not right that you spread a rumour and doubt everyone."

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