All surveys can’t be wrong, time to switch off TV: Omar
Minutes after exit polls projected the return of a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it was not possible for all the surveys to go wrong.
“Every single exit poll can’t be wrong! Time to switch off the TV, log out of social media & wait to see if the world is still spinning on its axis on the 23rd,” Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, posted on Twitter.
Abdullah’s tweet came several minutes after multiple exit polls predicted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to cross the halfway mark of 272 seats, required for the formation of the federal government.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said the exit polls were not accurate and did not reflect the true picture.
The TRS, which is trying to bring together regional parties under the Federal Front, believes the results on May 23 would be different and in line with its expectations.
TRS spokesman Abid Rasool Khan told IANS the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were very polarised and people had not come out openly to say which party they voted for.
“Small samples are taken to conduct exit polls and they don’t reflect true picture. The results on May 23 will be different and we are confident about it,” he said.
“These were highly polarised elections. People were afraid to speak truth for fear of reprisals. They were keeping quiet and voting according to their thinking,” he said.
Khan, however, was confident that the regional parties would do very well and form a non-BJP and non-Congress government.
He said once the results were declared, TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s idea of Federal Front would get crystallised. “The regional parties will come together for a greater say in the government and for the rights and due share of their respective states,” he said.
“In Telangana, the TRS was confident of winning 16 seats, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will retain Hyderabad,” Khan said.