"BJP's popularity decreased in LS polls, NDA govt will not last long": Congress' Kuldeep Singh Rathore

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 7 : Kuldeep Singh Rathore, AICC spokesperson and Congress MLA in Himachal Pradesh, took a jibe at the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and claimed that the NDA government will not last long.
The AICC spokesperson also said that the time has come for Rahul Gandhi to take the lead and get a bigger responsibility in the opposition.
The remarks of Kuldeep Singh Rathore came while addressing the media in Shimla. "The members of the NDA alliance are coming up with their demands. There are many issues and I believe the rift between these alliances would continue and would increase on a daily basis," Rathore said.
Expressing his views on Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rathore said, "Rahul Gandhi played an important role in the opposition and had given a message against the dictatorship regime to the country through his Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. I believe that Rahul Gandhi ji should take a big responsibility and it will send a big message to the country and the Congress party will lead."
Stepping up his attacks on the BJP, Rathore claimed that the PM's popularity has decreased. "BJP's Hindutva agenda has been rejected in Lok Sabha elections and PM Modi's popularity has also decreased. Whereas people have great faith in the INDIA alliance, and the bloc has performed well in the country."
Taking a jibe at the slogan of 'Abki baar, 400 paar, Rathore said, "NDA was raising the slogan of crossing 400 but it had to be satisfied with less than 300 seats. NDA is going to form the government in the country but the NDA government will not last long."
Escalating his criticism, Kuldeep Singh Rathore said that BJP used money power to its fullest in the elections and sent opposition leaders to jail by misusing ED and SBI. They also tried to send Rahul Gandhi to jail on false charges, Rathore said.
He added, "The public has completely rejected the false agenda of BJP in the elections and this is the reason why the party could not get the majority this time."
Praising the performance of the INDIA alliance, Rathore said, "The credit goes to Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the alliance. Now, the time has come that Rahul Gandhi should be given some big responsibility. Congress high command should think about this..."
Talking about the assembly elections, Rathore praised the party's performance and said, "Here in Himachal Pradesh, we won four by-elections. The Congress party has performed well here..." said Kuldeep Singh Rathore.
Notably, the Congress' Anuradha Rana in Lahaul & Spiti secured victory, Captain Ranjit Singh won from Sujanpur, Rakesh Kalia won from Gagret, and Vivek Sharma won from Kutlehar. The other two seats--Dharamshala and Barsar were won by Sudhir Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal respectively.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and other members of the new council of ministers will take oath in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 9.
PM-designate Modi had earlier in the day called on President Droupadi Murmu and staked the claim to form the government. He met the President after a meeting of leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, who elected him as the leader.
"The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at 7.15 pm on June 09, 2024, at Rashtrapati Bhavan," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a post on X.
Earlier in the day, the President appointed Narendra Modi to the office of Prime Minister of India. The President requested him to advise her about the names of other persons to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in-ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
An NDA delegation also called on the President and a letter stating that Narendra Modi had been elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party was handed over to her.
Letters of support from NDA constituent parties were also given to the President.BJP president JP Nadda led the delegation which included party leaders Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw and CN Manjunath. The delegation also had leaders of other parties in the NDA including N Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), Sanjay Jha, Eknath Shinde, HD Kumaraswamy, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Pawan Kalyan, Ajit Pawar, Anupriya Patel, Jayant Chaudhary, Joyanta Basumatary, Atul Bora, Indra Hang Subba, Sudesh Mahto, Chandra Prakash Choudhary, and Ramdas Athawale.
BJP-led NDA won a third successive term in office under the leadership of PM Modi in the Lok Sabha elections.