The Congress party hopes to bag 128 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and is confident of stopping the BJP from winning a third consecutive term at the Centre, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a media interview, a day before Saturday's seventh and final round of polling.
Click here for live election results
“From the reports that we have received, we are sure that we will stop the BJP from returning to power. We believe that the Congress has already crossed the 100-seat mark and are hoping to win 128 seats,” Kharge told NDTV.
The senior leader also claimed that parties of the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc were successful in transferring their votes to each other.
He also revealed what the INDIA parties will discuss in the meeting convened by him on Saturday.
“We have called the meeting to ensure that there is no meddling in the counting of votes. We will tell every leader how EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) tampering works and how to ensure that the tampering does not happen,” the Congress chief stated.
While the INDIA bloc has not projected a PM face against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge backed senior Congress member Rahul Gandhi, also a former head of the grand old party, for the country's top office.
{{/usCountry}}While the INDIA bloc has not projected a PM face against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge backed senior Congress member Rahul Gandhi, also a former head of the grand old party, for the country's top office.
{{/usCountry}}“Rahul Gandhi is my choice as Prime Minister. He represents the youth, and the length and breadth of the nation,” Kharge, whose name was suggested for the PM's post by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal before he himself shot down the proposal, said.
The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will be held on June 4. The Congress is looking to improve upon its tally of 44 seats in 2014 and 52 seats five years later. Both times, the BJP secured single-party majority, a feat it aims to achieve this year as well.