Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday took a swipe at the Narendra Modi-led NDA government and said that it was "formed by mistake".
Speaking to news agency ANI in Bengaluru, Kharge said, "NDA government has been formed by mistake. Modi ji doesn't have the mandate. It's a minority government. This government can fall anytime."
However, he went on to say that the Opposition would like for it to continue, "let it be good for the country", adding that they should work together to strengthen the nation.
Kharge said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "habitual" of not letting something good in the country to continue. "But we will cooperate towards strengthening the country," he added.
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a narrow majority of 293 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP alone, though has always enjoyed a massive majority, managed to secured only 240 seat and fell short of the majority mark of 272 seats.
The Congress party, on the other hand, won 99 seats which was a considerable increase from its 2019 general elections tally of 52 seats. INDIA bloc, the opposition grouping, won 232 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
PM Modi returned for a third term at the Centre with the support of his NDA allies, of whom Chandrababu Naidu's TDP came with 16 seats, Nitish Kumar's JDU with 12, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena with 7 and Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with 5 seats.
NDA LEADERS REACT
BJP leader Shaina NC reacted to Mallikarjun Kharge's remark over the NDA government and siad that he has not yet "digested the fact that Modi 3.0 has already taken the oath, is working in the interest of India."
She said that by making preposteorus and negative comments, the Opposition is doing a "disservice to the electorate that has voted and reposed faith and vishwas in Prime Minister Modi".
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said, "NDA has a clear majority. We have won 292 Lok Sabha seats, I advise Mallikarjun Kharge to play the role of opposition."
(With agency inputs)
