Rahul terms exit poll results ‘Modi’s fantasy’, sticks to INDIA’s ‘295 seats’ stand

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has termed the exit polls predicting landslide victory for the BJP-led NDA as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “fantasy poll”.

“This is not called an exit poll but its name is ‘Modi media poll’. This is Modi ji’s poll, it is his fantasy poll,” Gandhi told reporters at the AICC headquarters after a meeting with the party’s Lok Sabha MPs via video conference.

Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, the former Congress president said, “Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala’s song 295? So, 295 (seats).”

Attempt to justify rigging: Congress

The Grand Old Party termed the exit polls “bogus” and said these were a “deliberate attempt” to justify the rigging of the elections and were part of “psychological games” being played by PM Modi to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at Modi for holding several meetings, including a long brainstorming session to review the 100-day agenda of the “new government”, saying these were “pressure tactics” to send out a signal to the bureaucracy and the administrative structure that he was coming back.

Mind games: Jairam Ramesh

“These are mind games — ‘I am coming back, I am going to be the prime minister again’. He is sending a signal to the bureaucracy, the administrative structure of the country and we hope that the civil servants who have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuing a fair counting of votes will not be intimidated and not be frightened by these pressure tactics,” Ramesh told PTI at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.

He also called Saturday evening’s exit polls “completely bogus” and claimed they have been “orchestrated and masterminded by the man whose exit is inevitable and guaranteed on June 4”.

“These are all part of the psychological games being played by the outgoing prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the outgoing home minister (Amit Shah). The outgoing home minister called up 150 District Magistrates and collectors yesterday. The results that the exit polls have come up with bear no relation to reality,” the Congress leader claimed.

Exit polls

All exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

While India Today-Axis My India has forecast 361-401 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 131-166 seats for the Opposition INDIA bloc in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ABP-C Voter predicted 353-383 seats for the ruling alliance and 152-182 seats for the INDIA bloc.

Political, not professional: Congress

Slamming the exit polls, Ramesh said in some states the NDA has been given more seats than the number of seats available in that state.

“It flies in the face of all political feedback. The INDIA janbandhan parties met yesterday; we went through state-wise analysis and there is no way INDIA janbandhan is going to get fewer than 295 seats,” Ramesh said.

“This is a deliberate attempt to justify rigging, this is a deliberate attempt to justify manipulation of EVMs, and this is also a psychological operation to lower the morale of the Congress workers and the INDIA janbandhan workers. We are not going to be frightened, we are not going to be intimidated, and you will see that the actual results on June 4 will be completely different from what these exit polls show,” the Congress general secretary said.

These are political exit polls and not professional exit polls, he added.

Legitimate fears

Ramesh pointed out that Congress treasurer and senior leader Ajay Maken has raised the issue of candidates’ counting agents at the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) table not being allowed.

“He (Maken) has raised this issue; there has been some response from the CEO of Delhi but the fact of the matter is that he raised this issue based on legitimate fears that had been expressed by the candidates. We have raised the issue of the counting of postal ballots and the effort of the Election Commission to change the methodology that has been part of the law,” Ramesh said.

117 complaints

He said the Congress has raised all such issues before the poll watchdog and had filed 117 complaints to it over the past 77 days, 14 of which are against the PM.

“There has been no credible action from the EC. It is a constitutional body, and we expect it to function in an impartial, professional manner and must give us the confidence that it is on top of the job,” he said.

“We have sought time from the EC on the postal ballots issue. We are hopeful that we will get time from the EC, which should be accessible to all political parties and should not function like an extended arm of the ruling party. So, we are hopeful that we will get time from the EC,” the Congress general secretary said.

Modi needs different plan: Ramesh

Ramesh reiterated that the exit polls have been “deliberately engineered by the man whose exit is inevitable on June 4”.

On the slew of meetings being held by the PM on Sunday, Ramesh said, “All mind games being played, the fact that the outgoing home minister is talking to 150 DMs and collectors and the fact that the outgoing PM is talking to secretaries on his so-called plan. He needs a 100-day plan of what he is going to do after June 4.”

The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(With agency inputs)