With Lok Sabha polls now around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday upped his sleeves in targeting the Congress and said it only followed 'Loot East Policy' while dealing with North East region during the ten-year-tenure.

"Previously, political parties and governments only remembered the Northeast when they needed votes. Under the Congress and the INDI Alliance government, there was only one policy for the Northeast - the 'Loot East Policy'. Ten years ago, Modi ended the 'Loot East Policy' of the Congress and the Communists. Now, the country's 'Act East Policy' is progressing," he said while addressing a rally in Tripura.

Modi said his government is working hard to develop North East region.

" I am the first Prime Minister to have visited the Northeast over 50 times in the past 10 years, whereas many ministers in Congress governments were unaware of where Tripura was located on the map of India," he said attacking former PM Manmohan Singh-led government which ruled the Centre from 2004 to 2014.

"Congress and the Communist Party have come together to protect their corrupt practices. It's incredibly opportunistic to see them fighting together in Tripura while opposing each other in Kerala," he said.

Meanwhile, the ABP-CVoter opinion poll, the last one before the Lok Sabha elections 2024, has projected a total vote share of 46.6 percent for the BJP-led NDA, with the saffron party likely to win 40.2 percent of the votes.

The survey report was released on Tuesday (Apr 16) ahead of the first phase of the elections to be conducted on April 19.

The opinion poll predicted that I.N.D.I.A bloc could follow close behind with a vote share of 39.8 percent, but the Indian National Congress (INC) is unlikely to poll more than 19.2 percent votes on its own.

According to the latest opinion poll, the NDA is likely to miss its 'ab ki baar, 400 paar (This year, 400+ seats)' target but is projected to clinch a thumping victory, winning 373 out of the total 543 seats.

The BJP could win 323 seats on its own, a rise of 20 seats since the last Lok Sabha polls of 2019, and comfortably beyond the majority mark of 272, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, The INC is projected to make a marginal gain over its 52-seat tally of 2019's polls.

The Congress is likely win 65 seats on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while its allies from the erstwhile UPA may win 59 constituencies, giving the 'UPA combine' a total seat count of 124.