BJP won't cross the 150-seat mark, says Rahul Gandhi with Akhilesh Yadav by his side

On the last day of canvassing for the first phase of India's Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday shared the stage to display the unity of their alliance and said both parties have a common agenda of defeating the BJP, reports Indian Express.

In response to a question, while addressing the media in Ghaziabad, about contesting only 17 out of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Rahul Gandhi said, "We have decided the INDIA alliance will contest and we have done seat-sharing with an open mind. We want to show some flexibility. That is why we have given space to our partners but that should not be seen as any weakness [of the Congress]."

As per the seat-sharing pact in UP, while the Congress is contesting 17 seats, the SP will fight for 62 seats. SP has also given one seat to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Calling the alliance between his Congress party and the SP "powerful", he said both parties will show a good performance in the state. SP president Akhilesh Yadav said, "PDA (pichhda, Dalit and alpsankhyak) will defeat the NDA (National Democratic Alliance)".

Akhilesh said the INDIA alliance will defeat the BJP from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur. In Ghaziabad, the Congress is contesting with the support of the SP.

Without predicting the number of seats which the Congress would win, Rahul said the BJP will be restricted to 150 seats in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. 

"We are getting reports from every state that our election is improving and there is an undercurrent," he said.

On the BJP's allegation of "parivarwad" against the opposition parties, Akhilesh said, "The BJP people should today take a pledge that they will not give a ticket to any family member and will not appeal to any pariwarwala for votes."

Attacking the ruling BJP, Gandhi said, "This is an election of ideology. On one side are the RSS and BJP who are trying to finish the Constitution and the democratic set-up. On the other side is the INDIA alliance and Congress which are trying to defend and protect the Constitution and democracy."

Gandhi said the biggest issues in the Lok Sabha election 2024 are unemployment, inflation, and representation but the Bharatiya Janata Party tries to distract from these issues.

On the BJP's question about how poverty will be eradicated in one go, Gandhi said, "No one is saying that poverty will be finished in one go. We are saying that poverty can be given a big blow. Narendra Modi has kept his entire focus on 22 to 25 individuals. 

"This is the reality today that 22 individuals have money equal to the amount 70 crore people have. Another reason for poverty is that Narendra Modi has concentrated all the money with 20 to 25 individuals…Narendra Modi has given nothing to the poor in the past 10 years."

Targeting the BJP over the electoral bond scheme, Yadav said that the electoral bond has exposed the BJP and the BJP has become a godown of all corrupts.

Calling electoral bonds the world's biggest scheme of extortion, Rahul said all the explanations of the PM on the scheme were not going to make any difference. "Because the entire nation knows that the Prime Minister is a champion of corruption," he said.