Cong won't get majority, but will form govt at Centre: Chavan

March 19, 2019 16:36

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said his party will not get a simple majority in the Lok Sabha polls, but a new government will be formed under its leadership at the Centre, dislodging the BJP-led NDA.

The former Maharashtra chief minister also said that the decision of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, not to align with the opposition parties will eventually prove beneficial for the NDA.

The Congress and NCP had been wooing the VBA to join forces with them in Maharashtra. However, the VBA, a social coalition of Dalits and Muslims jointly formed by Ambedkar and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), recently decided to field its own candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

"We are not going to get a clear majority. No party got 270 seats in 30 years (before 2014). Is (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi claiming so (that BJP will get majority) now?" Chavan asked.

"Some of their (the BJP's) people are saying so...I won't say how many seats the Congress will get, but the next government will be formed under the leadership of Congress. We are not claiming to get 270 seats, but the Congress-led government will be formed," Chavan said during an interaction with BBC News Marathi.

He also claimed that the BJP would suffer in the "cow belt", comprising mainly Hindi heartland states, and get 100 seats less vis--vis the 2014 polls.

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