A day after most exit polls predicted a massive win for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has termed the exercise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “fantasy poll”.
Asked how many seats the INDIA Opposition bloc will win, Mr Gandhi referred to the popular song by Punjabi singer, late Sidhu Moose Wala, and stressed that INDIA will win 295 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. “Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala’s song 295? 295,” Mr Gandhi told news agency ANI, less than 48 hours before counting begins Tuesday.
Exit polls have predicted a stunning victory for the BJP, with some pollsters claiming that the BJP-led NDA’s score may well cross the 400 mark – a target set by the BJP with its ‘ab ki baar 400 par’ slogan. A key health warning, however, is that exit polls do not always get it right.
Following a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders after the seventh phase of polling yesterday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats after conducting a “people’s survey”.
Samajwadi Party chief and INDIA bloc leader Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, has put out a post, questioning the exit poll predictions.
“Understand the chronology of exit polls. The Opposition had earlier announced that the media will predict that the BJP is crossing 300 so that there is scope for scam,” he said. Mr Yadav claimed that these exit poll predictions were prepped months back. “BJP supporters want to maximise share market profits using these exit polls. Their faces are telling the tale,” he said.
Mr Yadav asked INDIA bloc’s workers and functionaries to keep a close eye on Electronic Voting Machines ahead of the counting day. “Stay alert, get the counting done and celebrate only after collecting the winner’s certificate,” he said.
Speaking to NDTV, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said he is confident that the BJP will get 350 seats and the NDA will finish close to or past the 400 seats mark.
On the 295 plus seat prediction by Mr Kharge, the minister said it was the crux of a “drawing room conversation”. “He asked everyone what their number is and declared a number. What will be the impact on his credibility?”
Exit poll predictions, he said, is pointing in a direction. “The Prime Minister has successfully demonstrated that good governance is good politics, good economics is good politics. The country is on the rise.”
Responding to Akhilesh Yadav’s post, Mr Puri said, “I think Mr Akhilesh Yadav needs a reality check. He is talking about DMs, that somebody is calling DMs. He should know his level. He is probably at that level. The Home Minister of India doesn’t call a district officer.”
The stock markets numbers are already looking up, he said. “Stock markets don’t react to exit polls, they react to actual poll results.”
