Seeking to downplay the exit polls that have predicted a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Sunday maintained that the exit polls would go wrong like they did during the Karnataka Assembly elections last year.
Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru, Mr. Shivakumar said, “Exit polls had predicted that the Congress would not come to power during the last Assembly elections. But they were wrong. The exit polls had given only 80-85 seats to the Congress then. But I had predicted we would win 136 seats as per the survey we had conducted. We eventually won 136 seats.”
Explaining the rationale behind his disbelief in the exit polls, he said: “Exit polls would consider a very small sample size of around 5,000 people and hence I don’t believe in them. The people of Karnataka, especially women, have reposed faith in our guarantee schemes. I am sure they have supported us. Our guarantee schemes at the national level reached the people better in the second phase of the election,” he explained.
“The Congress does politics of development while the BJP does politics of emotion. I won’t comment on the national results, but we will surely cross double digit figures in Karnataka,” he expressed confidence.
Published - June 02, 2024 09:59 pm IST
