"Pollsters misleading people, attempts made to influence voting": AAP's Sanjay Singh slams exit poll predictions

New Delhi [India], June 3 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh on Monday slammed the exit polls that predicted a thumping majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections and claimed that the pollsters were misleading people and attempts were being made to influence voting.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Sanjay Singh said, "The people of the country are being misled and an attempt is being made to influence the counting of votes, We are going to discuss that in the press conference here today."
"We are going to discuss how these exit polls do not need any proof from anyone else but are proving themselves to be false and wrong. In this matter, I would like to thank all the agencies that have conducted the exit polls because they have exposed themselves before the country and made the public aware that they should not be trusted at all," he said.
"This is because the exit polls themselves have made their predictions inaccurate and unreliable. This has happened for the first time in the electoral history of India and in the history of exit polls," said the AAP leader.
Citing the poll predictions from different agencies, Sanjay Singh lashed out at the "inaccurate" data and began reading out the comparative statistical data from the pollsters.
"In Jharkhand, the CPIM is not contesting the elections. The CPIML is contesting there, but the exit polls have predicted 2-3 seats for the CPIM. This is funny because even the CPIM is contesting 1 seat there," he said.
"In Tamil Nadu, the Congress is fighting for 9 seats and the exit polls are predicting a win for 15 seats. Again for the BJP, in Tamil Nadu, the vote share is 37 per cent. Even God himself wouldn't believe this," he stated.
Adding further, he said, "In Uttarakhand, total seats are 5, but the exit polls are predicting 6 seats for the BJP in Uttarakhand."
"In Haryana, the total seats are 10, and exit polls are predicting 16-19 seats, out of which 6-8 seats are given to the NDA and the rest to the INDIA bloc," he added.
"In Himachal Pradesh, total seats are 4, and pollsters are predicting seats for 6. While in Rajasthan, there are a total of 25 seats, pollsters are giving results for 33 seats. This means there are 25 seats where polls will take place and pollsters are giving extra results for 8 seats," he said.
"In Bihar, the LJP party led by chief Chirag Paswan is fighting for 5 seats but pollsters are predicting 6 seats for them," he stated.
The AAP leader further said, "These exit polls are funny and entertaining. I want to ask the agencies, how they formed these poll predictions. There are 25 seats, but predictions are for 33, 5 seats, and again assumptions for 8 seats. So in a way, I am thankful to those who conducted the exit polls, because the pollsters themselves have made it clear to us not to trust them."
"There must have been pressure on him to change the exit poll numbers, so the agencies must have said, OK, PM Modiji, we will change the numbers in a manner that the public will not believe them," Sanjay Singh said while taking a dig at the BJP.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is poised to retain power at the Centre with a thumping majority and register its third straight win in the Lok Sabha polls, exit polls predicted on Saturday.
The exit polls predicted that the ruling BJP-led NDA is poised to improve its performance over its 2019 record when it won 352 seats. Two exit polls predicted the BJP would also improve its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP-led NDA improved its numbers in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls compared to the 2014 election. It is again poised for an upward trajectory, the exit polls predicted.
The pollsters gave varying numbers to the INDIA bloc, a grouping of parties opposed to the BJP, but predicted that it would perform better than the Congress-led UPA in 2019.
Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases from April 19, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi steering the BJP campaign. Votes will be counted on June 4.
The exit poll outcome was declared after the conclusion of polling for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Simultaneous assembly polls have also been held in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim, apart from assembly by-polls in several states.