New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said the Lok Sabha results are a “big mandate against” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that he is intent on “sabotaging” the people’s mandate.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the “caretaker Prime Minister is thumping his shrunken chest and boasting that not since 1962 has a government been re-elected thrice consecutively”.
“History that even the Master Distortian cannot rewrite is that Nehru was elected PM in 1952 with 364 seats, in 1957 with 371 seats and in 1962 with 361 seats. Mr. Narendra Modi has got 240 seats in 2024. It is a big mandate AGAINST him. But he is intent on sabotaging this mandate,” Ramesh said on X.
In his address at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday, Modi had said, “After 1962, for the first time a government has won the mandate for a third consecutive term.”
In another post on X, Ramesh also said, “In late November 1989, the Indian National Congress got 197 seats and was the single largest party. It could well have staked its claim to form the Government. But Mr. Rajiv Gandhi did what he believed to be the decent and morally right thing to do.”
“Who can say that the caretaker PM has even an iota of decency and morality in him, even as the people of India have rejected him resoundingly?” Ramesh said.
Modi on Wednesday tendered his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, who accepted it and asked him to continue till the new government assumes office, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.
Earlier in the day, the Union cabinet recommended the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha. The term of the current 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16.
In another post on X, Ramesh said, “The outgoing PM has become a caretaker PM now. The mandate of the people against him is huge. But he remains busy subverting our democracy into a demo-kursi.”
Tagging a news report that claimed that the JD(U) has demanded a special package for Bihar and a nationwide caste census for continuing to support the NDA, Ramesh asked will Modi stand by his statement that the caste census is an attempt to divide the nation in the name of caste.
In another post in Hindi, the Congress leader said, “‘Ahankaracharya Narendra Modi and self-proclaimed Chanakya Amit Shah are experts in playing fixed matches. After the people’s mandate, the Modi-Shah partnership is finding itself in trouble for the first time. Till now, if one bowled a ball, the other would hit a six on it. But now the ball has been bowled by the public. Will the king of kings be able to play on the front foot? Will the outgoing Vishwaguru be able to face the full toss delivery of the public?”
