‘Deliberate attempt to justify rigging’: INDIA bloc leaders term exit poll results ‘bogus’

NEW DELHI: A day after most exit polls predicted a landslide victory for the BJP-led NDA combine, the Congress on Sunday termed them “bogus”, saying they were a “deliberate attempt” to justify rigging of the elections.

The main Opposition party which leads the INDIA grouping said exit polls were part of “psychological games” being played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi referred to late singer Sidhu Moosewala’s ‘295’ song, indicating the INDIA bloc will eventually achieve its target of 295 seats. Gandhi also sought to discredit the exit polls, claiming “they were Modi media poll and fantasy poll.’’

The BJP, in a jubilant mood after the exit poll projections, dismissed Gandhi’s optimism as “daydreaming’’. In his reaction, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the NDA will win 400 seats.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also hit out at PM Modi for holding several meetings, including a long brainstorming session to review the 100-day agenda of the “new government”, saying these were “pressure tactics” to send out a signal to the bureaucracy and the administrative structure that he is coming back.

He also said that the exit polls that came out Saturday evening are “completely bogus” and have been “orchestrated and masterminded by the man whose exit is inevitable and guaranteed on June 4”.

“These are all part of the psychological games being played by the outgoing prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the outgoing home minister (Amit Shah). The outgoing home minister calls up 150 District Magistrates and collectors yesterday. The results that the exit polls have come up will bear no relation to reality,” the Congress leader said.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

Slamming the exit polls, Ramesh said that in some states the NDA has been given more seats than the number of seats available in that state.

“It flies in the face of all political feedback. The INDIA ‘janbandhan’ parties met yesterday, we went through state-wise analysis and there is no way INDIA janbandhan is going to get less than 295 seats,” Ramesh said.

“This is a deliberate attempt to justify rigging, this is a deliberate attempt to justify manipulation of EVMs and this is also psychological ops to lower the morale of the Congress workers and the INDIA janbandhan workers. We are not going to be frightened, we are not going to be intimidated and you will see that the actual results on June 4 will be completely different from what these exit polls show,” the Congress general secretary said.

These are political exit polls and not professional exit polls, he added.

Ramesh pointed out that Congress treasurer and senior leader Ajay Maken has raised the issue of candidates’ counting agents at the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) table not being allowed.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the veracity of the exit polls, saying the Opposition had already said that “pro-BJP media” would show the ruling party crossing 300 seats in the Lok Sabha.

The exit polls, which had been prepared months before and are only being shown on TV channels now, would create scope for “fraud”, Yadav alleged.

He further alleged that using the exit polls, the BJP wanted to benefit from the share market which opens on Monday, and added that “disappointed faces” of BJP leaders are telling the truth.

Insisting that the INDIA bloc was winning the Lok Sabha polls, the SP chief also called on the candidates and their poll agents to closely “monitor” the EVMs on counting day.

Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls will be held on Tuesday.

He said that BJP leaders are realising that the result of the whole country cannot be changed like the Chandigarh mayoral election because this time the Opposition is fully alert and public anger is also at its peak.

All the workers, office bearers and candidates of INDIA bloc should not make even one per cent mistake in monitoring the EVMs, Yadav said and added that the Opposition alliance is winning the polls.

In a separate tweet he said: “The basis of exit poll is not EVM but the DM. Administration should remember that there is no greater force than people’s power.”

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut described the exit polls as a “corporate game and a fraud” and claimed there was pressure on the media companies which conduct it.

Speaking to reporters here, the Rajya Sabha member claimed the opposition INDIA bloc will win 295 to 310 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha and form government.

Raut also said they do not require the exit polls as they work on the field and know the “undercurrent”. Raut claimed: “There is lot of pressure on these media companies. The exit poll exercise is a corporate game and a fraud.”

In Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprises the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), will win more than 35 seats out of the total 48, Raut said.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka will bring a change in the country along with Maharashtra, Raut claimed.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the ruling Left in Kerala and the Congress rejected as “baseless” the exit poll predictions which said that the BJP-led NDA will come to power at the Centre and also open its account in the state where it has not had an MP in the past.

The LDF also termed the predictions as “suspicious” and “politically motivated”, while the Congress said that there is no need to believe the exit polls as they have been proved wrong in the past.

The LDF and the Congress, both of whom are confident of a good show in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, were in agreement that the BJP will not open its account in Kerala.

LDF convener and veteran CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan said the exit poll predictions were not arrived at through some scientific findings or experiments, “it was not based on public sentiments” and was not an observation following a proper analysis of the elections.

A similar view was expressed by senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who said that he will not accept exit polls which based on a sample size of 1,000 people make predictions about how lakhs of people voted. “We are moving forward with the belief that the INDIA bloc will form a government at the Centre. Also, the UDF will have a huge win in Kerala. We will win all 20 seats,” he added. With Agency Inputs