In a public meeting at Banaskantha, Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1 claimed that the BJP was the only party contesting in more than 272 seats in this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
While the Lok Sabha comprises 545 seats, elections are being held in 543. Hence 272 is the majority figure.
Modi said in Gujarati, “If you want to form a government, then at least 272 seats are required. Except for the BJP, no political party in the country is contesting 272 seats, and then they are saying they will form the government. Even the royal family of Delhi is not going to vote for Congress… There is no Congress candidate where they vote… Ahmed Patel’s family in Bharuch will not vote for Congress… A big Congress leader who votes in Bhavnagar, will not be able to vote for Congress. This is the condition of the Congress…”
News Agency ANI shared the above-mentioned part of the PM’s speech on May 1.
#WATCH | Gujarat: In Banaskantha’s Deesa, PM Modi says, “If you want to form a government, then at least 272 seats are required. Except for the BJP, no political party in the country is contesting 272 seats, and then they are saying they will form the government. Even the royal… pic.twitter.com/n6HZn6DJvu
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2024
Zee News also published a report on the claim by the Prime Minister.
Several users on social media further amplified the claim.
Fact Check
We came across a tweet from Pawan Khera, the chairman of the media and publicity department of Congress, in which he quote-tweeted ANI and said, “The Congress Party has so far declared 326 seats.
Do you also have a degree in entire mathematics, Mr @PMOIndia?”
The Congress Party has so far declared 326 seats.
Do you also have a degree in entire mathematics, Mr @PMOIndia ? https://t.co/VHueKKpaun— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) May 1, 2024
To confirm the above, we checked the X handle @INCSandesh which shares all official announcements of Congress. The page shared a consolidated list of Lok Sabha candidates contesting from constituencies across the country on April 22 which consisted of a total of 301 names.
LOK SABHA ELECTIONS – 2024
List of Congress Candidates :- pic.twitter.com/Ip9qeiofYG
— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) April 22, 2024
Further, we found that after the publication of this list, the Congress had announced 26 more candidates till April 30. These candidates have been announced in constituencies in the states of Bihar (1), Andhra Pradesh (3), Telangana (3), Maharashtra (2), Haryana (9), Odisha (2), Punjab (4) and Himachal Pradesh (2). This makes the total number of seats that the Congress is contesting 327, till now.
Congress has not nominated any candidate from the Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats, as its partner in the INDIA alliance Aam Aadmi Party is contesting from these two places.
Hence, the claim by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that no party other than BJP is contesting more than 272 seats is completely false.
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