Hyderabad, June 1: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday expressed confidence that the Congress will win at least 10 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state and that the INDIA bloc would form a government at the Centre. In an informal interaction with mediapersons here, he cited a post by BJP on 'X', where the saffron party has said that it would get four-five Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

The BJP said: "In the north, we will maintain our tally in MP, Rajasthan...In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our tally. In Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh...we will maintain our tally. In West Bengal, we will get 30+ seats. We had 18 seats, and therefore we will be nearly doubling our seats. In Odisha, there are 21 seats, and we will able to cross 18. In Telangana, we are going to win 4-5 seats...- Shri @JPNadda." Lok Sabha Exit Poll Result 2024: Major Exit Polls Predict PM Narendra Modi-Led NDA To Retain Power for Third Term, BJP-Led Alliance Projected To Win Over 350 Seats

While the BJP is claiming to win four-five seats, the BRS may not get more than one and the AIMIM would retain the Hyderabad LS constituency. The remaining seats, at least 10, would go to the Congress, said Revanth Reddy, who is also Telangana Congress president. He said that the INDIA bloc would win big in the southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He also exuded confidence that the alliance would form a government and Rahul Gandhi would become PM. The BJP may not get more than 240 seats, he said.

Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government did not do anything substantial for the state during the last 10 years, the chief minister said he would make efforts to see that crucial portfolios in the Union Cabinet are allotted to Telangana if the INDI Alliance forms a government. He said it was the late S Jaipal Reddy who got the metro rail project to Hyderabad when he was a union minister.

With the state government having invited Sonia Gandhi for the state formation day celebrations to be held on Sunday, he said there would be a message from the former Congress president if she is not able to attend the event due to health reasons. The Telangana people want the presence of Sonia Gandhi, he said. The Congress government has planned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of state formation on Sunday on a grand scale. On the ongoing probe by police into alleged phone-tapping during the previous BRS regime, he said he has not held any review on the issue owing to poll code. Lok Sabha Exit Poll 2024: No Faith in Exit Polls, Congress Will Cross Double Digits in Karnataka, Says DK Shivakumar

An ex-police official, who is arrested in connection with the probe into the phone-tapping issue, has claimed in his confession statement that former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wanted to use the "BRS MLAs" poaching case to force BJP into a compromise to get rid of the ED case against his daughter and MLC K Kavitha.

On the opposition BRS objecting to the Congress government's alleged move to remove Charminar and the 'arch of Kakatiya dyanasty' from the state emblem, he said a decision would be taken after a debate in the Assembly. Asked about allegations by the BRS over power disruptions and shortage in the state, he said there is no inconvenience to people and that he is ready for an audit on the matter if BRS wants it.

Revanth Reddy also asserted that there is no shortage of seeds for farmers ahead of the crop season. He said district Collectors are now checking at the ground level on the availability of seeds, adding that various law enforcement agencies are now functioning effectively, carrying out raids, which is unprecedented.