SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday, April 29, dismissed exit poll predictions indicating an edge for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the West Bengal Assembly elections, citing past instances where such projections failed to reflect actual results.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien questioned the credibility of exit polls, referring to similar projections made during the 2021 Assembly elections that did not match the final outcome.
In a post on X, O’Brien pointed out that several exit polls had missed the mark during the last West Bengal Assembly elections. “Credibility of exit polls? Bengal polls 2021. How off the mark were the predictions from the final results,” he said.
The Trinamool Congress leader also shared data from three exit polls that had forecast a close contest between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, while the Trinamool Congress eventually secured a landslide victory.
O’Brien cited three exit polls from the 2021 Assembly elections, which had projected 143–162 seats for the Trinamool Congress and 115–147 for the BJP. However, the Trinamool Congress went on to win 215 seats, while the BJP secured 77.
The party’s former Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale also echoed the view, stating that exit polls often indicate a “close contest” in West Bengal, whereas electoral mandates in the state have historically been decisive. “Exit polls generally play it safe by calling it a ‘close contest’ in Bengal. Except that mandates in Bengal are never ‘close’.
They’re always decisive,” Gokhale said in a post on X. “No reliable exit poll (if such things exist) is predicting a thumping 180+ ‘BJP wave’. My claim on record: TMC will form the government on May 4 in Bengal with a massive mandate,” he added.
A majority of exit polls conducted by various agencies on the two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal have predicted a close contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, while also indicating the possibility of a change in power in the state.
According to the exit poll survey by P-MARQ, the BJP is expected to win 150–175 Assembly seats, while the Trinamool Congress is projected at 118–138 seats.
Others, including the Congress and the Left Front–All India Secular Front alliance, are estimated to win between two and six seats. The Matrize exit poll projects the BJP’s tally at 146–161 seats and the Trinamool Congress at 125–140, with others between six and ten seats.
According to Chanakya Strategies, the BJP is expected to win 150–160 seats, while the Trinamool Congress may secure 130–140 seats, with others between six and ten. People’s Pulse, however, places the Trinamool Congress ahead with 178–189 seats, the BJP at 96–110, and others between one and four.
SOURCE : SIASAT
