Rahul Gandhi to Congress workers: next 24 hours crucial, stay alert

With only hours left before counting began in the Lok Sabha election, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged party workers not to be afraid, telling them they were fighting for the truth.

The message to workers

In a tweet, Gandhi said the next 24 hours were important and asked workers to remain vigilant. He told them not to lose heart because of what he called fake exit polls, and to keep faith in themselves and in the party, adding that their hard work would not be wasted.

His message came a few days after the seven-phase election ended and the exit polls predicted a comfortable win for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The polls suggested that the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could win between 336 and 360 seats in a House of 542, and put the combined Opposition in the range of 125-160. Exit polls have often been wrong in the past.

EVM concerns and the EC’s response

The Opposition rejected the projections and raised complaints about the alleged mishandling and storage of electronic voting machines (EVMs). Opposition supporters staged dharnas in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

On Tuesday, a high-level opposition delegation met the Election Commission (EC) and submitted a memorandum asking that VVPAT paper slips be counted first. If any discrepancy was found with the machine count, it wanted all the votes in that Assembly segment of the parliamentary constituency to be cross-checked, rather than the 5% sample the EC had decided on. The EC turned down the demand on Wednesday.

What happened next

Votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election were counted on 23 May 2019. The BJP won 303 of the 543 seats and the Congress 52, and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister on 30 May 2019.

See also: Indian National Congress

Originally published on 22 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us