Hyderabad : The final results pouring on the day of counting for the Lok Sabha Election 2024 on Tuesday have brought one big question to everyone's mind. Have Exact Polls proved Exit Polls completely wrong? It further raised concerns over how the Poll of Polls and Exit Polls have been causing a lot of disruption and disturbance in the political sphere ahead of the final counting day in every election.
Exit Polls: Now, the question of credibility is once again raised on the Exit Polls in the days preceding Tuesday's counting in the current Lok Sabha Election. Most of these Exit Polls gave a clear victory for BJP-led NDA while the final results on the counting day presented a different picture. INDIA bloc has also put up a significant performance to the point where speculation started over shifting of loyalties by some alliance partners may threaten NDA's chances to form the government for the third consecutive term.
Exit Polls proved right in the 2014 and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when they predicted a thumping win for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Poll of Polls: In the current Lok Sabha election, Exit Polls came out three days ago on Saturday, predicting a thumping victory again for the BJP-led NDA and for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retain power for a third straight term. Most of the nine pollsters predicted a clear win in 377 to 383 seats for NDA and just 153 to 161 for INDIA bloc. However, the ongoing trends proved this wrong with NDA appearing set to stop at around 290 while INDIA bloc emerged stronger, increasing its chances to win about 230 seats. The magic figure is 272.
Of these pollsters, the ABP-C Voter has forecast 353-383 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 152-182 seats for the opposition INDIA bloc. Today's Chanakya predicted a majority for BJP on its own with 335 seats, while forecasting 400 to the NDA while giving just 107 seats to the opposition alliance.
Opposition Reactions: INDIA bloc leaders strongly reacted to Exit Polls. Terming them 'bogus', Congress MP Rahul Gandhi described the Exit Polls as "Modi media poll" and also "his fantasy poll." Rahul Gandhi exuded confidence that INDIA bloc would 'win' the same number of seats in Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'. On the other hand, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that NDA would be restricted to just 235 and appealed to the INDIA bloc cadres not to get confused by the 'narrative' of the BJP on the Exit Polls. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal described the Exit Polls as 'fake polls', saying that they were BJP's mind games to discourage the opposition cadres.
BJP Welcomes Exit Polls: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had welcomed the Exit Polls as an indication of the people's unfailing faith in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. BJP national president J P Nadda, in his reaction to the Exit Polls, said that the BJP on its own would win 370 seats and NDA 400. Former CM of Madhya Pradesh and BJP senior leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan had asserted that the final results in the current Lok Sabha poll will far exceed the projections of the Exit Polls that gave a clear majority for NDA.
