Modi says Congress won't reach 100-seat mark, but it might
Taking the stage at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Congress will not be able to cross the 100-seat mark even in 100 years. The PM's remark came ahead of his oath-taking ceremony for the third time on Sunday after the majority seats needed to form a government were crossed with the help of NDA allies. In the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 240 seats; the majority mark is 272.
The Congress secured 99 wins
Despite this election result being the BJP's lowest return in 15 years, PM Modi stated, "We were neither defeated nor are we defeated." The Congress secured 99 wins from the 328 seats it contested, while the party-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc collectively bagged 232 seats. The last time Congress crossed into triple digits was in 2009 when it won 206 seats.
Watch PM Modi's address
Congress's potential to reach century mark
There is now a possibility that the Congress will be able to hit the three-digit mark if Vishal Patil, a party rebel, re-joins the party. Patil contested as an independent candidate from the Sangli Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra and won. On Thursday, he extended his support to the party. Patil rebelled and contested as an independent after the Sangli seat was awarded to the Shiv Sena-UBT as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) seat-sharing agreement.
Patil is the grandson of former CM Vasantdada Patil
"He will have to now submit a letter for becoming the associate MP of the Congress to the Lok Sabha secretariat. Only after the Lok Sabha secretariat approves it...Congress strength in Lok Sabha will then go up to 100," Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said. Patil, who is the grandson of former chief minister Vasantdada Patil, defeated sitting BJP MP Sanjaykaka Patil from the Sangli seat.
Another independent candidate may join Congress
Aside from Patil, Pappu Yadav, another leader who ran as an independent from Bihar's Purnea, is expected to back the Congress. He had merged his party, the Jan Adhikar Party, with the Congress before the elections, but when the Purnea seat was allocated to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Yadav contested as an independent candidate and won. The seat was allotted to the RJD candidate as part of the opposition's seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar.
