Ahead of Lok Sabha election results, Opposition parties meet in Delhi to chalk out post-poll strategy

Top leaders of Opposition parties on Tuesday held a meeting at the Constitution Club in the national capital Delhi to discuss the possibility of a non-BJP alliance staking claim to form government at the Centre, even as most exit polls predicetd easy victory for the ruling NDA coalition, reported PTI news agency.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Danish Ali, DMK MP Kanimozhi, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and NCP leader Majid Menon were present at the meeting.

During the meeting, the Opposition parties will also take a call on moving to the Election Commission seeking 50 per cent verification of EVM votes to ensure their is not rigging in the counting. The meeting, though prescheduled, came hours after reports of suspecious movements of EVM machines in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana.

"On VVPATs and the EVM tally, the EC is yet to come out with a procedure in case there is a mismatch. Even if there is one mismatch in the VVPAT samples picked for counting and EVMs, to maintain the integrity of the electoral process, all VVPATs in that Assembly segment must be counted," Left leader Sitaram Yechury said.

The ruling BJP mocked the Opposition parties for raising EVM concerns after exit polls results predicitng return of the Narendra Modi government. It said the Opposition was trying to find and excuse for the their dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the News Nation exit poll, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Narendra Modi is set to return as Prime Minister for the second term as NDA was predicted to win anything between 282 and 290 seats. The News Nation exit polls showed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) may garner a maximum of 126 seats, while it gave a maximum of 138 seats to the Others.

The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections 2019 were held in seven phases, between April 11 and May 19. The official results of the 17th Lok Sabha elections will be announced on May 23.