'Narendra Modi barely escaped...': Rahul Gandhi attacks PM over Lok Sabha results
Earlier this week, Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India for the third in a row.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is being credited for his party's unexpected performance in the Lok Sabha elections, claimed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi barely escaped a defeat in his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.
"The truth is the Prime Minister barely escaped in Varanasi and he would have been defeated himself in Varanasi. The BJP was defeated in Ayodhya. The people of Ayodhya have given a message that we don't appreciate hatred and violence," he said in Kerala's Malappuram.
PM Modi defeated Congress candidate Ajay Rai by over 150000 votes. PM Modi polled 612970 votes. Ajay Rai received 460457 votes.
Samajwadi Party's Awadesh Prasad won the polls in Ayodhya.
The Congress, belying exit polls that had completely written off the party, won 99 seats, including six in BJP bastion Uttar Pradesh.
More importantly, the Opposition's INDIA bloc won 234 seats. The BJP, whose tally crossed 300 in the previous elections, won 240 seats -- 32 short of a simple majority in the lower house of the Parliament.
To form the government, the BJP had to rely on its allies -- N Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar and Eknath Shinde.
After the elections, the Congress claimed the loss of seats was a moral defeat for Narendra Modi.
Earlier this week, Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India for the third in a row.
Taking a jibe at Modi, Rahul Gandhi claimed the PM used to talk about tearing up the Constitution but was now forced to worship it.
"Before the elections, you saw the BJP leaders saying that they would tear up the Constitution. After elections, you saw the Prime Minister doing this (touches the Constitution to his forehead) to the Constitution," he said.
"The people of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and all other states showed the Prime Minister that he cannot dictate to the people of India what they want. The people of India also so the PM that the Constitution is our voice, do not touch it," he added.
In Uttar Pradesh, Congress ally Samajwadi Party won 37 Lok Sabha seats, emerging as the single-largest party. The BJP won 33 seats.
With inputs from ANI, PTI