New Delhi: The Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a negative campaign as there is a strong but silent undercurrent against him saying such a gesture made the 2024 Lok Sabha Election tough for the BJP.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Prithiviraj Chavan said, “There is a strong but silent under-current against PM Modi. After three phases of polling, I think the BJP will not get a simple majority of its own and even would not be able to form a coalition government. The BJP is facing a tough time in this election. PM Modi is not talking about his achievements over the past 10 years but has been running a negative campaign against the Congress. The mood of the people is clearly in favour of the INDIA bloc which is set to get a majority of its own."
Chavan was minister of state in the cabinet of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and also former chief minister of Maharashtra.
“PM Modi recently said the Congress manifesto bore an imprint of the Muslim League, brought in issues related to mutton, fish and mentioned Pakistan in an attempt to polarise the elections. He even made some personal attacks on Rahul Gandhi calling him Shehzada. All this shows the BJP is running a negative campaign,” said Chavan.
He continued, “In contrast, the Congress and the INDIA bloc are talking only about basic issues like joblessness, price rise, safety of women besides saving the Constitution. The BJP’s claim of 400 seats to change the Constitution has worried the beneficiaries of reservation across the country."
According to the former Maharashtra chief minister, the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Congress-Shiv Sena UBT and NCP-SP was set to get 30 plus Lok Sabha seats out of total 48 in the western state.
“The MVA is certainly going to get over 30 seats. The alliance is running a very good campaign and the partners have campaigned jointly on several seats,” he added. He said the BJP was not getting the benefit of having an ally like Shiv Sena that the saffron party had in the 2019 national elections.
“The Shiv Sena was undivided then and offered a lot of support for the BJP. This time, only the Shinde Sena faction and the NCP Ajit Pawar faction are with the BJP. The real Sena UBT and NCP-SP are with the MVA whose leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are getting public sympathy. The BJP stabbed them in the back to get votes but the people are still with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar,” said Chavan.
The former chief minister was positive about Sharad Pawar’s recent comments that triggered discussions about a post poll merger of the NCP-SP with the Congress.
“Sharad Pawar said that some smaller parties may align with the Congress after the polls. He further said that ideologically his party and the Congress were the same. To me, it appears that he is open to a merger but the issue needs to be discussed within his party. All these things would depend on the final outcome of the elections both in the state and nationally,” Chavan added.
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