Mumbai/IBNS: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said his party won't oppose Congress' Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister if INDIA manages to form the government despite the BJP-led NDA is well above the majority mark.

Raut said, "If Rahul Gandhi is ready to accept the leadership, why would we oppose him? He is a leader of the country. He has proved himself. Rahul Gandhi is a popular leader who the country has accepted.

"We all love him and want him to lead. There is no confusion about the PM candidate within the INDIA alliance. We didn't fight for power but to save the Constitution and democracy."

After BJP stopped at 240 odd seats, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar emerged as the key players in forming the next government, which is expected to be headed by Modi again considering his number.

Naidu on Wednesday cleared he will be attending the meeting of national coalition NDA. "I am in NDA. I am going for an NDA meeting," Naidu added.

Nitish has triggered a speculation by boarding the same flight with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav- a key constituent in the INDIA alliance- while hearing for NDA meet in Delhi.

Lok Sabha election results

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday returned for a rare third consecutive term in office with his allies, but fell short of an absolute majority for his BJP, in an election that gave a new lease of life to a Congress-led disparate Opposition bloc- INDIA-  as the anti-Modi union halted the saffron juggernaut to under 300.

Modi, who is set to be the second Prime Minister after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to return to office for third consecutive term, had kickstarted the campaign for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) setting the target for 370 seats and 400 for the NDA alliance.

Quite contrary to the "Abki bar 400 par" or "400 plus seats this time" slogan, Modi's BJP failed to achieve the majority mark (272) on its own, paving way for a return of a coalition government trend after a decade.

In what would trigger the debate of anti-incumbency setting in, Modi's BJP could manage to get to 240 while NDA touched 291, a comfortable figure to run the government but at the mercy of regional parties like .

As a slew of exit polls that gave a clear majority to Modi proved wrong, even in the win of the NDA, the celebrations are louder in the  INDIA Bloc after they bagged a higher than expected number of seats.

Though several political pundits, opinion and exit polls had almost written off the Opposition, Congress (99 seats) led INDIA comprising several key regional players in offering a close contest to the incumbent.