© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday dismissed the exit polls, which have predicted a thumping victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, calling them “Modi media poll”, “his fantasy poll”.
When asked how many seats is the Opposition’s INDIA bloc expected to win, Rahul said, “Have you heard Sidhu Moosewala’s song, ‘295’?”
Moosewala’s song ‘295’ was titled as such because he makes an apparent reference to Section 295A of the IPC, which deals with “insult or attempt to insult the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India.” The singer, who often courted controversy, was killed on May 29, 2022.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Rahul has made references to the slain singer during these elections. During his visit to Punjab on May 28, Rahul paid tributes to Moosewala while addressing a massive rally in Dakha.
Somanth Bharti’s challenge
AAP leader and INDIA alliance candidate for the New Delhi constituency, Somnath Bharti, has said that he will shave off his head if Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister for the third time.
Debunking the exit poll results, Bharti said its the fear of Modi that prevents media outlets from showing him lose and added that all seven seats in Delhi will be secured by INDIA alliance.
“I will shave off my head if Mr Modi becomes PM for the third time. Mark my word! All exit polls will be proven wrong on 4th June and Modi ji will not become prime minister for the third time. In Delhi, all seven seats will go to India ALLIANCE. Fear of Mr Modi does not allow exit polls to show him loose. Hence we all need to wait for actual results scheduled to be delivered on June 4th. People have voted very heavily against @BJP4India,” Bharti’s post read.
All major exit polls predicted BJP and its allies to breach the 300-seat mark once again and is likely to make major gains in southern states. The saffron party is likely to open its account in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where it has never won a single seat.
Congress alleges ‘mass rigging’
Meanwhile, Congress MP Ajay Maken claimed on X that “Candidate’s Counting Agents” would not be allowed at the Assistant Returning Officer’s table for the first time. “If true, this is bigger than the alleged EVM rigging,” Maken added. Sharing his post, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh called it “mass rigging”.
However, the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi clarified that “Counting Agents of Candidates are allowed at the tables of RO/AROs.”
“Many Thanks for this much-needed clarification. Your Returning Officers in Delhi were in denial mode till this morning,” Maken responded.
For context, the Returning Officer (RO) conducts the counting of votes, while the Assistant Returning Officers (ARO) are allowed to supervise and take over if the RO has been assigned to more than one constituency.
A candidate is allowed to appoint his counting agents, who may be present at each of the counting places and counting tables, and watch his interests, the Election Commission states.
