DigitEye India Fact Checkers
As the election fever is heated up, several claims and counter-claims have been traded by all the political parties. One such instance came from the BJP when PM Narendra Modi, in a public meeting at Banaskantha, Gujarat, on May 1, 2024, claimed that no party other than BJP is contesting more than 272 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The number 272 is the minimum required to form a government by any party on its own at the Centre. The video has been shared by the news agency ANI as seen below:
#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
Since the Lok Sabha elections are being held in 543, the majority party should get a minimum of 272 seats. Hence, Modi said: “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.”
FACT CHECK
Since, only two national parties are there in India which can claim to have fielded the maximum number of candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, we checked for the Indian National Congress official handle @INCSandesh where the party has been releasing the names of candidates since the elections were announced in March. As of April 22, 2024, the consolidated number crossed 300.
LOK SABHA ELECTIONS – 2024
List of Congress Candidates :- pic.twitter.com/Ip9qeiofYG
— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) April 22, 2024
The additional announcements made so far add up to the consolidated list of Lok Sabha candidates contesting on Congress ticket as of May 3, 2024 reached 327, when Rahul Gandhi’s name for Rae bareli was announced alongwith K.L. Sharma’s name for Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
Hence, the implied meaning that Congress has not fielded even the minimum required figure of 272 candidates to form a government at the Centre is not correct. The available data shows both the national parties have fielded more than 272 candidates in the race for Lok Sabha seats in 2024.
Claim: No party other than BJP is contesting more than 272 seats, required to form a government on its own at the Centre.
Conclusion: Not only BJP but even Congress has fielded more 328 candidates in the race for Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
