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Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Saturday said that he was visiting Assam to "protect MLAs" from defection after the Legislative Assembly election results on May 4.
DK Shivakumar told ANI in Guwahati, "I am here to protect my MLAs, guide the MLAs and help the party. They are safe today and tomorrow." DK Shivakumar and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel arrived in Assam to meet Congress candidates ahead of the counting of votes. The Karnataka Deputy CM is a known face in Congress for hotel politics to protect MLAs from defection. Meanwhile, Shivakumar refuted exit polls predicting a big win for the BJP in Assam. He alleged that the exit polls often present results based on a small sample size of electors. "I don't believe in any exit poll, even if it is in our favour or not. The sample size for the exit polls is smaller, so I have my own calculations," he said. When asked about West Bengal and Assam polls, he said, "The INDIA bloc is going to form a government in every state. My party cadres are very confident that the Congress alliance will come to power. I believe in my leaders. I believe in the voters of Assam. They need a change, they will have a change." Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel told ANI, "Today, there is a meeting with our candidates along with DK Shivakumar, state leadership here." Echoing a similar view on the exit polls, Baghel added, "Exit polls are a copy-paste of the one in December, and they never turn out to be correct." In Assam, exit polls predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is poised to retain power for a third successive term. Axis My India projected that the BJP-led NDA would secure 88-100 of 126 seats and the Congress-led alliance 24 to 36 seats. JVC predicted 88-101 seats for the NDA and 23-33 seats for the Congress-led alliance. It gave 0-2 seats to AIUDF and three to others. Matrize projected 85-95 seats for the BJP-led alliance, 25-32 for the Congress-led alliance, and 6-12 seats for others. P-Marq projected 82-94 seats for the BJP-led alliance, 30-40 for the Congress-led alliance, and 1-5 for others. The Congress stitched a six-party alliance to take on the ruling BJP-led NDA in Assam. The counting of votes will take place on May 4. (ANI)
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