New Delhi/IBNS: Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav's prediction for the 2024 Lok Sabha election which did not give a thumping third straight win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP caught Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's attention Thursday.

It also sparked a gentle exchange between the two as Yadav corrected Tharoor.

Earlier, Tharoor, eyeing a four-term MP from Thiruvananthapuram, had hailed a forecast of 260-270 seats for the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance allies, which leaves them short of the majority of 272 and well below its ambitious 'abki baar, 400 paar' goal.

"Fascinating... Yogendra Yadav has revised his earlier estimates and now says the BJP will definitely fall short of 272. He tells Karan Thapar the BJP could go down to 250 but, if the undercurrent is strong (referring to anti-incumbency) it could even fall to 230," Tharoor posted on X (formerly Twitter).

"Mr Yadav says he expects the rest of the NDA to win 35 to 40 seats. This means if the BJP were to fall as low as 230 it will not be able, even with support of the NDA, to reach the majority mark. Interesting times ahead," Tharoor declared.

On Tuesday, Tharoor said that he wondered if the BJP could win even 200 seats.

The "earlier estimated" Shashi Tharoor referred to was an interview last week in which Yadav suggested it would be "impossible" for the BJP to cross the 300-seat mark as it did in 2019.

Tharoor's tweet Thursday prompted a reply from Yadav, who pointed out he has been maintaining the BJP will struggle to cross the 272-seat majority mark without outside support. "... have been saying all along BJP (will win) around 250 and could even fall below 230," he responded.

"As for NDA partners, let's not forget that half of their tally (about 20) may be from parties like TDP (ex-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's party, an ally for his election)... who have no enduring relationship with the BJP beyond this election. Interesting times indeed!"

In Tharoor's tweet, the video showed Yadav speaking to a TV channel where he outlined two possible scenarios on counting day when the results of the Lok Sabha election will be released.

"I think, in my assessment, there are two scenarios. In all probability I see the BJP losing something like 50 seats over what it had last time (in 2019 the ruling party won 303 seats on its own)..."

"So something like 250, or possibly below, this time," Yadav said.

"There is also another scenario, in which the undercurrent may be so strong, that the BJP posts much below that. But this is less likely. The most likely scenario is the BJP will get around 250."

Yadav was quite a bit more optimistic about the Congress' score.

"Congress could reach triple figures... but we cannot be sure. It is likely to do much better than last time, when they had 52 (and 44 seats in the 2014 election). Something around 90-100 this time."