Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda claimed on Friday that the Congress's decision to not participate in exit poll debates is the confirmation that the opposition party has conceded the Lok Sabha elections.
Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Shah said in a statement that the Congress has been in a "denial mode" since he began playing a key role in its affairs.
"The Congress ran the campaign through the polls that it is going to get a majority. But it has now realised the reality and knows that it faces a rout in the exit polls to be broadcast after the elections tomorrow," Shah said.
The Congress does not have the face to take questions from the media so it is debunking the entire exit poll exercise claiming that it has no meaning, he added.
Shah said Congress leaders should not be in denial and instead introspect, as he accused the party of casting aspersions on the Supreme Court and the Election Commission when judicial judgments and poll results do not favour it.
"The BJP has lost many polls but has never boycotted the media or exit polls," he said, expressing confidence that exit polls will indeed prove the ruling alliance is getting "400-paar".
Nadda said the Congress's decision to skip exit poll debates amounts to an "unequivocal confirmation" that the opposition party has conceded the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In a post on X, he asked electors not to "waste" their votes in the seventh and last phase of the polls on Saturday as he said the Congress usually opts out when it doesn't expect favourable results but has no compunction showing up if it thinks it has even an outside chance.
"Their hypocrisy is not lost on anyone. Let no one in Phase 7 waste their vote on them," he said.
Nadda's swipe at the opposition party came after it announced its decision to not participate in any Lok Sabha exit poll debate on news channels, saying it does not want to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRPs.
"The results will be out on 4th June. Prior to that, we do not see any reason to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRP," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a statement.
Nadda retorted, "The Congress's decision is an unequivocal confirmation that the Congress has conceded the 2024 Lok Sabha elections."
What is more disconcerting, Nadda said, is the Congress' antipathy towards the largest democratic process in the world, which saw the participation of over 960 million aspirations.
"While Indians were electing their leader, who would lead them in the new world order, improve their lives, bring opportunities and prosperity, the Congress was working assiduously to undermine the very institutional process, on which rests our robust democracy's foundations," he claimed.
He said instead of focusing on winning the election, the opposition party repeatedly approached the Supreme Court, making outrageous demands, in order to "mutilate" the well-established electoral process.
"The Congress has no complaints about either the EVMs or the electoral process when it wins. Himachal and Telangana are recent examples. But whines endlessly when it expects a rout," he said.
Nadda added that not just the Congress but its extended ecosystem, which is "inimical" to India's interests, too comes together to create cacophony and makes all attempts to undermine people's faith in democratic institutions and process.
"They stop at nothing. They target the Supreme Court, Judges who do not deliver orders to their liking, attack journalists, who refuse to be their cheerleaders, tarnish the Election Commission of India and raise questions on integrity of data and process," he said.
By deciding to boycott the exit poll exercise, they are bringing in question exercise carried out by several professional agencies, who have worked with thousands of associates to bring what people may have voted for, Nadda said.
"Is it the Congress's arguments that there is a big conspiracy, which includes millions of voters, and all of it is aimed at ridiculing the Congress for the next few days when the actual result comes out on 4th of June?" he asked.
He said it doesn't behove India's grand old party to "behave like a child, whose toy has been taken away".
One expects a certain level of maturity from the largest political party in the opposition, he added.
