Exit polls have no value, manufactured at home two months back: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, Jun 1 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the exit poll predictions were not consistent with the ground reality as they were "manufactured at home" two months back.

Claiming that such exit polls have no value, she criticised the media for showing them.

Most of the exit polls have predicted that the BJP will get more seats than the TMC in the state.

"We had seen how the exit polls were conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2021. None of the predictions had turned out to be true," she told TV9-Bangla news channel.

"These exit polls were manufactured at home by some people two months back for the media consumption. They have no value," the TMC supremo added.

Banerjee said the response of the people at her rallies didn't corroborate the exit polls predictions.

"The way BJP tried polarisation and spread false information that Muslims were taking away quotas of SC, ST and OBCs, I don't think Muslims will vote for BJP. And, I think the CPI(M) and Congress helped the BJP in West Bengal," she said.

On the prospects of the INDIA bloc, Banerjee said that Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, RJD Tejashwi Yadav, M K Stalin of the DKM and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray will do well.

“Regional parties will do well everywhere,” the TMC boss said.

She was also asked if her ties with the CPI(M) and Congress in West Bengal would affect her chances of joining the government at the Centre if the INDIA bloc was voted to power.

Banerjee said, "I don't think there will be any hurdle at the all-India level unless the CPI(M) interferes… See every regional party has its own respect, and after talking to everyone, if we are invited we will go. We will take other regional parties along. But let the poll results be out first," she said.

TMC sources said that the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee held a video conference with presidents of all district units during the day.

He said that counting agents should be alert and stay at the counting centres till the end so that BJP and other opposition parties cannot resort to any malpractices.

Abhishek Banerjee, who himself is seeking re-election from the Diamond Harbour seat, also called upon the party rank and file not to be influenced by the exit poll reports maintaining that those did not reflect the real picture and were influenced by BJP.

He asked party members and supporters to be present at the counting centres in large numbers, the sources said.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed his party will win at least 25 seats in West Bengal, but he would not be satisfied with less than 30 seats.

"When I took over as the state president two and a half years back, I had said we would cross the 25-mark in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, but even many in my party did not believe me. Now, not only my party, but the press and the people of the state believe that we will get more than 25 seats," he said.

CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said exit poll predictions could not be relied upon.

"Swelling public resentment against the TMC will prevent it from doing well in the Lok Sabha polls wherever free and fair elections could be held," he claimed. PTI