Confident of second term, Modi meets NDA leaders

Political allies swathed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a victory garland on Tuesday, seeking to project confidence he would win a second straight term in a general election, but the opposition Congress party dismissed predictions it would lose.

Modi met leaders from his ruling alliance, receiving garlands and shawls from them in a show of optimism.

Flanked by BJP president Amit Shah, Modi met cabinet ministers, party colleagues and dozens of the leaders from regional blocs that are part of the alliance.

Seated before a sign reading “Welcome and Thanksgiving Meeting” at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Modi was also given a meters-long, outsized garland.

Confident of victory, the BJP said the Congress party must think about whether the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty still enjoys the support of the people.

The family has dominated politics since the British colonial rulers left in 1947, with three prime ministers.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, a senior BJP member who would likely retain his role in a new Modi cabinet, said Congress could no longer rely on the family to win votes.

“Leaders are judged on merit and not on caste or family names,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

“The prime minister’s style of rising above caste and concentrating on performance related issues received far more acceptability with the electorate.” Some Congress officials say it is wrong to blame the Gandhi family every time the party fares badly and point to three wins in state assembly elections last year under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

Exit polls have predicted a clear win for Modi in the election that ended on Sunday, but such polls in India have proved misleading before, and counting of votes cast in the seven-phase contest will take place on Thursday.

The result is expected later that day.

The ruling coalition, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is projected to win between 339 and 365 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament with a Congress-led opposition alliance getting only 77 to 108, an exit poll from India Today Axis showed. But Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the younger sister of party president Rahul Gandhi, urged party workers to ignore vote surveys, not lose heart, and to remain vigilant at vote-count centres.

“Don’t let rumours and exit polls discourage you. This is being spread to break your determination,” she said in an audio message late on Monday.

“This has further raised the need for you to remain alert. Please keep vigil outside strongrooms and counting centres. We are confident that our combined efforts will bear fruit,” she said, referring to centres where electronic voting machines are kept.

The staggered general election, billed as the world’s biggest democratic exercise with some 900 million eligible voters, began on April 11.

Meanwhile, the BJPs attempts to embarrass the Congress with a floor test in Madhya Pradesh have all but fizzled out with the partys central leadership not supporting the local leaders on the issue.

On Monday, the leader of the Opposition, Gopal Bhargav had written a letter to Governor Anandiben Patel requesting her to convene a special session of the state assembly. Bhargava, a veteran of the House since 1984, obviously acted in haste by shooting off a letter to the Governor.

The procedure for convening the sessions, special or ordinary, is clear. The government seeks the governor’s permission to convene the session by a communication sent through the Vidhan Sabha secretariat.

Insiders say Bhargav has been admonished by the party’s central leadership for going to the press over the issue. Action followed former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s report to the central leaders. Chouhan had also spoken to some television channels over the issue.

“We want to discuss issues of critical importance in the special session and we would also see whether this government can sustain itself through the division of votes on financial matters,” Bhargav had told newsmen on Monday.

Charges and counter charges flew thick and fast over the BJ’’s attempt to pull down the Kamal Nath government.

Agencies