Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Sunday rejected the exit poll predictions about the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and urged the party workers to stay strong and not be swayed by these deceptive tactics.
"As we witnessed in 2016, 2019 and 2021, exit poll predictions were completely wrong. Why? Because BJP pays hefty sums to the Godi Media to create a wind and manipulate the final outcome. Smt. @MamataOfficial strongly condemned #ExitPolls, urging our party workers to stay strong and not be swayed by these deceptive tactics," TMC said in a post on X.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also said that regional parties like those of Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, MK Stalin, and Uddhav Thackeray will perform well in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
"I have observed exit polls in 2016, 2019, and 2021, and none of them matched the actual poll results. I believe that the BJP manufactures these (exit polls) and feeds them to the media. In my opinion, regional parties like those of Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, MK Stalin, and Uddhav Thackeray will perform well," she told a Bengal TV channel.
Most of the exit polls have predicted BJP getting more seats than the TMC in West Bengal.
The exit poll outcome was declared after the conclusion of polling for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
According to the News18 exit poll, the BJP-led NDA is expected to win 21-24 seats in West Bengal. The TMC is set to win 18-21 seats.
India TV poll said that the BJP-led NDA may get between 22-26 seats, TMC 14-18 seats, and Congress to get 1-2 seats.
The ABP News-CVoter exit poll predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in West Bengal. The BJP is predicted to win 23-27 seats while the Trinamool Congress is expected to get 13-17 seats. The Congress to get 1-3 seats.
According to News 24-Today's Chanakya Analysis, the BJP is poised to win 24 seats, TMC to get 17 seats and Congress to get 1 seat.
According to the India Today-Axis My India, BJP will get 26-31 seats, TMC to get 11-14 seats and INDIA bloc to get 0-2 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC had won 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, and the BJP won 18. Congress won only 2 seats.
The voting for the 543-member Lok Sabha was held across seven phases. Votes will be counted on June 4.
—ANI