assembly-elections

Updated: Dec 11, 2018 14:12 IST

Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot appeared confident that his party will form the government in the state with a “complete majority” even as his party inched closer to the majority mark, according to trends and leads in the assembly election counting on Tuesday.

Speaking at his residence in Jaipur, Pilot said, “I want to thank the people that initial trends indicate that the Congress party is in a comfortable position in all three states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and this is the trend that will move across India.”

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“I think the trend in all the three states is very clear and we must wait for the final results, but in Rajasthan it is very clear from the initial trends that it is the Congress that will form government with a complete majority.”

According to trends and leads on the Election Commission website at 12.45pm, the Congress led in 93 of the 200 assembly seats in the state, compared to 80 by the BJP. Three Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates were leading, as were 15 independents. The BJP had won 163 seats and the Congress 21 in the last assembly election in 2013.

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Pilot said the Vasundhara Raje government and the BJP government at the Centre failed to live up to the expectation the people had. “It is betrayal of trust. The Congress party offered a better alternative under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the party president. The party fought for five years and were on streets and it is hard work of Congress leaders and workers that has pushed the party to a position that the Congress will comfortably form the government,” he said.

Click here for Chhattisgarh election results 2018 LIVE update

Replying to a question about a possible chief ministerial candidate from the party, Pilot said, “It is very early to talk about those things. First, let us get a majority and it has been the tradition in the Congress that once we get the majority, all leaders, the elected MLAs and the Congress party president will sit together and decide who will get what responsibility.”

Pilot thanked the people for voting for the Congress. “The prime minister, several chief ministers, Vasundhara Raje and her entire cabinet were camping here and trying to throw venom into the political debate, which the people rejected. So, it is not just a political victory but it is also the victory of the kind of sentiments that people want to see. They do not want to see a debate on religious lines, do not want see a debate on madir-masjid, but want to talk on jobs, agriculture prices, price rise, inflation, corruption and those are the issues that the BJP avoided to talk about and that is why they (BJP) are punished.”