‘Don’t agree with exit polls, they create mental pressure': RLD chief as BJP predicted to return in UP

The RLD contested the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls 2022 by tying up with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Most exit polls have predicted another victory by the BJP in the northern state, while the RLD-SP coalition will emerge as the runner-up.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary said on Tuesday that exit polls put forth a point of view, which he does not agree with and are also a way to create mental pressure. His comments come after most exit polls have predicted the return of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh - seen as the most crucial region in India's political game.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary during a public meeting for the just concluded UP assembly polls, in Varanasi, Thursday, March. 03, 2022. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)

Further, the RLD chief, whose party contested the month-long assembly elections in the northern state with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP), wondered where the data for exit polls came from.

“There is a process for exit polls. No exit poll person was seen at the polling booths, I do not know from where they got the data,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Chaudhary added that unless the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are opened, it is not possible for anyone to know the results of the assembly polls.

Earlier in the day, the RLD chief took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the exit polls. Resorting to subtle sarcasm, Chaudhary wrote, “Exit poll kya karenge jab vote koko le gayi? (What will exit poll do when the votes have been taken by koko?)."

“Coalition workers have struggled a lot. Now, patiently cooperate with the counting of votes,” his tweet roughly translated from Hindi further read.

The seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections ended on Monday (March 7), and the counting of the same will take place on March 10. Most exit polls such as India Today-Axis My India and Times Now-Veto 2022 show that the saffron camp is expected to bag 71-101 and 225 seats, respectively. The SP has been predicted to emerge as the runner-up with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress following it.

In 2017, the BJP won more than 300 seats in the 403-Uttar Pradesh assembly. The SP and Congress alliance had bagged 55 seats, while the BSP managed to win only 19.