‘Exit polls just to discourage you,’ Priyanka Gandhi tells Congress workers

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi sent out an audio message to her party workers on May 20, asking them not to fall for “rumours” that are aimed at drowning their spirit ahead of the counting of votes on May 23. Her comments were in reference to the exit polls foretelling a resounding win for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha polls.

She can be heard saying in the audio clip: “My dear Congress workers, sisters, and brothers... Don’t let rumours and exit polls discourage you. This is being done just to break your determination.” She also asked her party cadres to stay alert and continue keeping a hawk-eyed vigil outside counting centres, reported NDTV.

Some of the predictions on May 19, shortly after the voting concluded, projected more than 300 seats for the NDA and 120 or less for the Congress and its allies. Interestingly, it also predicted that the saffron party would make deep inroads in West Bengal, taking up its seat share to double digits this time. A similar gain was predicted in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh – all of the states where the party lost during the Assembly elections held last year.

Notably, Priyanka Gandhi is not the only political leader to junk the exit polls. Multiple Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have dismissed the predictions, calling it is a ploy to manipulate the vote counting in favour of the incumbent ruling party at the Centre.

I don’t trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan 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

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— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 19, 2019

Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is serving a jail sentence at the moment, has claimed that exit polls run on an agenda. “It is a business decision made by news channels to show exit polls that favour the party liked by their target audiences. They don't want people to turn their television sets off in disappointment because then the TRPs (television rating points) will plummet,” the party earlier tweeted.

Exit Poll होता है। उपभोक्ता वर्ग की पार्टी को जीतते दिखाना उनकी व्यवसायिक मजबूरी है। अगर उपभोक्ता वर्ग की पार्टी हारती है तो लोग निराशा में टीवी ही बंद कर देंगे। टीवी बंद तो TRP डाउन। Exit Poll पर उनका जोश और परिणाम की यह भी एक वजह है — Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) May 19, 2019