All roads lead to Delhi as parties await Lok Sabha election results

With most exit polls projecting a win for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP-led) National Democratic Alliance, the party has planned victory celebrations on Tuesday evening with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to address party workers at the party’s national headquarters here. A road show is also in the works.

However, the leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc, who have rejected the exit polls projections, are set to meet either on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning in the capital to decide on their course of action.

“INDIA leaders will meet after the results are declared,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X and rejected reports that Opposition parties would hold protests if the poll results went against them. Opposition leaders have asserted that the INDIA bloc is coming to power at the Centre with more than 295 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats.

On Monday, BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and party’s National President J P Nadda, met to assess the BJP’s internal assessment of the results.

“A meeting was held to discuss and review the elections conducted in seven phases and also to discuss the counting of votes, which is to take place tomorrow. The meeting was presided over by Nadda,” BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde told reporters after the meeting.

Tawde said there was no discussion on the victory celebrations at the meeting. “There is no such discussion on this at present. We will look into this only after seeing the trends, not on the basis of the exit polls’ projections,” he said.

However, the BJP’s national headquarters extension was being prepared for the possibility of the Prime Minister addressing party workers. Modi addressed party workers after the BJP’s 2019 win and has done so after the results of the BJP’s victories in key Assembly polls. Tents have been put up at the BJP office to provide shade to party workers likely to gather there on Tuesday, which is expected to be a hot day.

BJP sources said party workers in Delhi and Haryana had been asked to converge at the party headquarters on Tuesday evening.

Nitish Kumar meets PM

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Modi in the national capital on Monday. The meeting came on the day his party, the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the BJP in Bihar, demanded early Assembly polls in the state.

Bihar is scheduled for Assembly polls in October next year. The Janata Dal (United) leadership, however, said the demand had nothing to do with Kumar’s Delhi visit, but was consistent with the Centre’s efforts at heralding the “one nation, one election” pitch. The Janata Dal (United) wants the Bihar Assembly polls to be held along with those in Jharkhand, which are scheduled for later this year.