Mamata calls exit poll 'gossip', urges Oppn to stay strong

Kolkata: Reacting sharply to the results of the exit polls aired on several national and vernacular television channels on Sunday evening, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee dismissed them as "gossip" and added that it was a "gameplan to manipulate and replace thousands of EVMs." She also urged Opposition leaders to stay strong and united.

She tweeted: "I don't trust exit poll gossip. The gameplan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this battle together."

While one exit poll said BJP would get 16 out of 42 seats in Bengal, two others maintained that the party would get 11 and 19 seats respectively. While the results of two exit polls said the NDA would get around 306 seats, the third one put it to 287.

Banerjee further added that Narendra Modi, while addressing the election rallies in Bengal, had said BJP would get 300 plus seats. She apprehended that to justify Modi's tall claims, the EVMs could be manipulated. She urged the leaders of the United India to intensify vigil around the strongrooms where the EVMs will be kept to prevent their replacement.

She further alleged that by airing such an exit poll result, BJP is trying to demolish the confidence of the Opposition parties. "This has been deliberately done to weaken the

unity of the Opposition parties and ensure that they do not unite."

She also said that the BJP would try to put pressure on the administration by quoting such a result and attempt to ensure an upward trend in the share market.

Banerjee maintained that during the Assembly polls, none of the exit poll results that had predicted the defeat of the Trinamool Congress came true and the party came to power with a landslide victory.

She also stated that she was in touch with the United India leaders and reiterated that the BJP will not come to power at the Centre.