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V Sivadasan Dasu, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader and the party's State Secretary in West Bengal, has rejected certain exit poll predictions giving an edge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming they have historically failed to capture the party's actual performance in the state.
Speaking to ANI, Dasu said, "Exit polls' calculations never match the reality in West Bengal. And as for the exit polls shown so far regarding the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal... In 2021, ABP News showed 152 for TMC, Chanakya showed 169, TV9 showed 142, and India Today showed 130. Various other channels also didn't show a majority for Trinamool Congress in '21."Most exit polls have predicted a BJP ousting the AITC in West Bengal, which has been in power for the last 15 years. Chanakya Strategies projected the BJP winning 150-160 seats in 294 West Bengal assembly and getting a majority of its own. It said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) would win 30-40 seats and others six to 10 seats. Drawing on his decades-long political experience, he expressed confidence in the party's prospects. "I want to tell you, based on my experience since 1987 of working in elections, up until this election that ended four days ago, I am telling you from my side that Trinamool Congress is coming to power with more than 200 seats," Dasu said. He further referred to projections for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, stating, "Even in the '24 elections, look at the predictions for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections: ABP showed 13 to 17 (seats), India Today showed 11 to 14, NDTV showed 16 to 18, Chanakya showed 17, Republic showed 16, and Times showed 20. These calculations are never found to be accurate in West Bengal." Dasu alleged that exit polls have consistently underestimated the party. "In 2021, they showed the BJP coming to power, giving Trinamool only 115-120 seats. However, in all three elections, Trinamool Congress achieved a record-breaking victory and came to power with a two-thirds majority," he said. He concluded, saying, "Exit poll results in West Bengal have never been in favour of Trinamool; they have always shown anti-Trinamool results." West Bengal has achieved its highest voter turnout since independence, reaching a historic 91.66 per cent during Phase II of the elections. However, the polling day also witnessed high political tensions between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the deployment of security forces in the state. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), poll participation in West Bengal (Phase-II) stood at 91.66 per cent till 7:45 PM. In phase I of the elections on April 23, the poll participation was 93.19 per cent, resulting in a staggering combined poll percentage over the two phases at 92.47 per cent."The combined poll percentage over the two phases stands at 92.47%. Previously, the highest poll-participation in WB was 84.72% (2011 GELA), " a release from the ECI said. The voter turnout was high across the board, with female voters leading at 92.28 per cent and male voters not far behind at 91.07 per cent. ECI said that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, kept a close watch on the polling through live-webcasting, which was ensured in 100% of the Polling Stations in West Bengal (Phase-II) as well. The counting of votes will take place on May 4. (ANI)
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