New Delhi: As many as 24 leaders from 13 political parties attended an informal meeting of the INDIA bloc on Saturday at the No. 10 Rajaji Marg residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to prepare for the counting of votes on June 4. The only absentee was Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was busy with the elections being held in West Bengal.
Besides Kharge, the Congress was represented by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal. Samajwadi President Akhilesh Yadav attended along with his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar was present with Jitendra Awhad.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was represented by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, as well as Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha. DMK leader T R Baalu, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav along with Sanjay Yadav, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders Champai Soren and Kalpana Soren, J&K National Conference leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah, CPI's D Raja, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, Shiv Sena (Thackeray group) leader Anil Desai, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Mukesh Sahani of Bihar's Vikassheel Insaan Party also attended.
Kharge told the meeting that the fight is still not over, and the leaders and workers of all the parties need to remain extremely alert.
"We have fought the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 with all our might and are confident of a positive outcome, as the people of India have supported us," he added.
The meeting decided that the INDIA bloc need not worry about the exit polls and should not participate in them. Instead, they should be prepared for the final counting on June 4 to reveal the real results.
