'Public directly links Modi, Adani': Rahul's first reaction on LS poll result

The Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance is leading on 42 seats while the BJP is ahead on 28 seats in Uttar Pradesh

As the counting trend suggested major gains for the Opposition's INDIA alliance in the Lok Sabha election, Rahul Gandhi slammed the Narendra Modi-led government and said that the Opposition fought this election not just against the BJP but all the institutions it had "captured."

"We fought this election against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian governance structure, probe agencies, judiciary and other public institutions, since these all had been captured by the Modi government," Gandhi said.

"You (public) have taken the first and the biggest step to save the Constitution." 

"The public directly related Modi and Adani. If Modi loses, the stock market says Modi is gone so Adani is gone. There is a direct relationship of corruption between them," he alleged.

Indian stocks suffered their worst intraday fall since March 2020 on Tuesday, as vote counting trends in the general election suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance was unlikely to win the overwhelming majority predicted by exit polls.

Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Total Gas, Adani Wilmar, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Green Energy, Ambuja Cements, ACC and New Delhi Television (NDTV) were down between 9 per cent and 19 per cent in intra-day trade today.

Gandhi made the remark while addressing a special briefing at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi as the day-long counting trend showed the Opposition's INDIA bloc leading at 236 constituencies.

Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh were also present at the briefing.

On the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's failure to secure a 272 threshold majority by itself, Kharge labelled the development as a "huge moral defeat" for the saffron party. The BJP had won 303 seats last time.

"The public knew that if Modi gets another chance, the constitution would be attacked," Kharge remarked, thanking the voters for increasing the Opposition's tally in the Parliament.

He also thanked the party workers and supporters for their efforts during the poll campaign. Congress, which is ahead on 88 constituencies, has won 11 seats so far, the data on the Election Commission's website showed.

Gandhi, who is contesting the elections from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli and Kerala's Wayanad, is leading in both constituencies by a margin of above 360,000 votes.

Congress's potentially improved performance is a major morale boost for the party, which holds the tag of the main opposition party in India but could only win 52 seats in the 2019 polls. The party had won only 44 seats in 2014. 

In the previous general elections, Congress secured 52 seats with a vote share of 19.49 per cent. Exit polls had suggested a marginal improvement in Congress's performance this time.