New Delhi, June 3: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday said her party is very hopeful that the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be totally opposite to what has been shown in the exit polls.
“We have to wait, just wait and see,” Sonia Gandhi told PTI when asked about her expectations from the results scheduled to be announced on Tuesday.
“We are very hopeful that our results are completely opposite to what the exit polls are showing,” the Congress parliamentary party chief added.
Sonia Gandhi made the remarks after attending an event held at the DMK office here. She paid tributes to DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi on his 100th birth anniversary.
Most exit polls have predicted that Prime Minister Narendra 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 some exit polls have given the NDA more than 400 seats, most have predicted that it will win over 350, which is way above the majority mark of 272 seats needed to form the government.
The Congress and other INDIA bloc parties have trashed the exit polls, claiming that these surveys were a work of “fantasy” and asserting that the opposition alliance will form the next government.
“This is not called an exit poll but its name is ‘Modi media poll’. This is Modi ji’s poll, it is his fantasy poll,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said on Sunday.
Congress leaders have said that the INDIA bloc will win 295 seats and form the government.
Earlier, speaking at the event marking the 100th birth anniversary of Karunanidhi, Sonia Gandhi said, “It’s my pleasure to be here with my colleagues from the DMK on the very auspicious occasion of the 100th anniversary of Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi.” “I had the good fortune of meeting him on many occasions, listening to what he had to say and benefiting from his words of wisdom and advice. I feel fortunate to have met him,” she said and extended her best wishes to those present on the occasion.
Kharge writes open letter to bureaucrats
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote an open letter to the country’s bureaucracy on the eve of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections, urging officers to adhere to the Constitution and serve the nation “without fear, favour and ill-will against anybody”.
“Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day,” he wrote.
“We owe it to future generations, a vibrant Democracy and a long-lasting Constitution, as penned by the makers of modern India,” he said.
The counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections will be held on Tuesday.
“In this hope that India remains truly Democratic in nature, I extend good wishes to each one of you, and expect that our eternal ideals of the Constitution remain untarnished,” the Congress chief said.
In his appeal to all civil servants and officers, he said he is writing in his capacity of the Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) and as the president of the Indian National Congress.
He congratulated the Election Commission of India, the Central Armed Police Forces, state police forces, civil servants, district collectors, volunteers and all in the bureaucracy who were involved in the smooth conduct of the mammoth general elections.
“Our inspiration and India’s First Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel famously called the civil servants as the ‘Steel frame of India’. The people of India are well aware that it is the Indian National Congress which established numerous institutions, laid their solid foundation, and devised mechanisms for their independence, on the basis of the Constitution of India.
“Independence of the institutions is paramount, for every civil servant takes oath of the Constitution that they ‘will faithfully and conscientiously discharge their duties and will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will’,” he said.
“In this spirit we expect every bureaucrat and officer – from top to bottom of the hierarchy, to discharge their duties in the spirit of the Constitution, without any coercion, threat, pressure or intimidation either from the ruling party/coalition or from the opposition party/coalition,” the Congress chief said in his letter.
He said that the Congress, through the Constitution prepared by inspirational founding members such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, B R Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and countless others, not only created a framework of strong governance, but also ensured affirmative action through representation of the marginalised in the bureaucracy and the civil society.
“The last decade has witnessed a systemic pattern to assault, undermine and suppress our autonomous institutions by the ruling party”. (PTI)
