New Delhi:
After the exit polls predicted a third straight win for the Bharatiya Janata Party including a huge gain in the south, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor termed the predictions “deeply unscientific” and said they are instead interested in the votes of people.
He also said that BJP won’t be making gains in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and will lose “significantly” in Karnataka.
Speaking to the reporters, Mr Tharoor said, “We have been travelling throughout the country campaigning and have a sense of what is the reality on the ground. Exit polls are deeply unscientific. Last year, the majority of exit polls got the results wrong in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. What we are interested in is the real poll- the votes of the public is going to decide our political future.”
“BJP will lose significantly in Karnataka and they certainly won’t gain in Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” he added.
Mr Tharoor is also the Congress party’s candidate from Thiruvananthapuram. He is pitted against BJP candidate and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The voting on the seat took place on April 26.
The exit polls have predicted a third term for the BJP-led NDA government in the Lok Sabha elections.
In a major takeaway, the BJP is expected to make significant inroads in the southern states.
According to the Axis My India exit poll, the BJP-led NDA is expected to win 2-4 seats in Tamil Nadu. The INDIA bloc, which has both DMK and Congress in it, is set to win 33-37 seats.
The exit poll predicted a marked rise in NDA’s vote share in Tamil Nadu which is expected to go to 22 per cent. INDIA bloc is predicted to get 46 per cent.
According to News 18 exit poll, NDA is expected to win 1-3 seats in Tamil Nadu while the INDIA bloc can win 36-39 seats in the state.
Tamil Nadu sends 39 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
In Kerala, the Axis My India exit poll predicted that the BJP-led NDA is to win 2-3 seats in Kerala. It said Congress-led UDF would win 17-18 seats and LDF, led by CPI-M, is expected to win 0-1 seat.
The exit polls has predicted a 27 per cent vote share for NDA in Kerala, which will be the highest the party has ever got in the state. The predicted vote share of LDF and UDF are 29 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.
The News 18 exit poll predicted 1-3 seats for NDA in Kerala. It said UDF is expected to win 15-18 seats and LDF 2-5 seats. The Times Now-ETG has predicted one seat for the BJP in Kerala. It said Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF are expected to win 14-15 and four seats respectively.
Kerala sends 20 seats to the Lower House.
The voting for the 543-member Lok Sabha was held across seven phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
