People will vote for continuity: Congress

Congress today expressed confidence that the electorate would "vote for continuity" even as the third phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded recording a high turn out.

Party spokesperson Manish Tewari, however, refused to hazard a guess as to the number of seats Congress could win in this phase which saw polling in 91 seats.

"We have been monitoring the trends. I can tell you with a reasonable degree of confidence that our workers are enthusiastic. The poll results are going to surprise us all.

"The feedback is a vote for continuity, where individuals candidates have also been factored in by electorates...I am quite hopeful that this voter turn out will be in line with our expectation," Tewari said.

On the possibility that the Lok Sabha polls in seven seats of Delhi could turn out to be a contest between BJP and AAP, Tewari said AAP had "run away" from governing in the state and "people will take cognisance of all these when they use their franchise".

Dismissing talks of a Narendra Modi wave in the country, he said, "there are people who count the waves when election results come, while others believe in counting the ballot." Though Tewari, who is the also the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the government, sought to put up a brave face, there is a view that a high turn out of voters could mean a strong anti-incumbency wave.

"Huge turn out has its own connotations," said a leader, who declined to be identified.

There is a view that Congress is yet to recover from the anti-incumbency syndrome, which played out during the Assembly elections in five states a few months.

Congress had lost in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and won only in Mizoram, when Assembly elections were held for these states last year.