After Exit Polls predicted a third term for the BJP-led NDA government on Saturday, a war of words erupted between the leaders of the saffron party and Congress.
The Congress and other INDIA alliance parties rebuffed the exit polls calling them “far-fetched” and “difficult to believe”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went on to say that the exit polls were “Modi-media polls” and expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc would win 295 seats.
Questioning the credibility of the exit polls, the leaders of major opposition parties alleged that they were conducted at the behest of the government as a “deliberate attempt to justify rigging of elections” and were part of PM Modi’s “mind games” to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers ahead of counting of votes on June 4.
The News18 Mega Exit Poll suggested that the BJP is likely to win a majority with 305 to 315 seats and Congress might win over 62-72 seats. As per the predictions, NDA will bag victory in Lok Sabha polls by winning 355 to 370, while the Opposition-led INDIA bloc will win 125 to 140 seats.
Rahul Gandhi said, “This is not an exit poll. This is a ‘Modi-Media’ poll. INDIA alliance is getting 295 seats.”
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said, “We had seen how the exit polls were conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2021. None of the predictions had turned out to be true…. these exit polls were manufactured at home by some people two months back for media consumption. They have no value,” the Trinamool Congress chief told a TV channel.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav said, “Those poor people who are forced to give false statistics on TV screens under the pressure of the government are also saying in hushed tones in their private lives that the BJP is losing. These helpless people are saying that there will be a tough fight in 13 important states when the correct results are declared on June 4 and that the BJP’s presence in the rest of the states is anyway zero.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “I can’t take these exit polls very seriously. Last year, the exit polls had us winning Chhattisgarh but when the ballots were counted, we had lost. My view is that the people of Kerala voted on 26 April, they have waited for so many weeks already, they can wait for 2 more days… Some numbers are so far-fetched and difficult to believe that it’s best we wait till the 4th of June.”
Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, “…We have met people, made some estimations and set some projections. Those projections say that the Government will be formed by us…There are those Exit Polls too which say that Congress is in a very good position…We hope that we form the Government.”