West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has reacted to the Exit Poll projections for the state assembly elections, accusing the opposition BJP of ‘fixing’ them.
Banerjee expressed confidence that TMC will form the government after the results of the Bengal assembly elections are announced on May 4. She also said that her party won't allow “any khela during counting”
“Exit Polls are from the BJP's office. The numbers are fabricated, meant to demoralise TMC workers,” Banerjee said in a video message, alleging that raids were conducted in her constituency, Bhabanipur, the “entire night”.
“BJP has played the final game. Share markets would have toppled if the real figures were released. People need to stay together, keep a close watch on counting... stay up all night,” she said, adding that she will guard the EVM strongrooms herself if need be.
{{/usCountry}}“BJP has played the final game. Share markets would have toppled if the real figures were released. People need to stay together, keep a close watch on counting... stay up all night,” she said, adding that she will guard the EVM strongrooms herself if need be.
{{/usCountry}}“They plan to swap EVMs .... till the time I hold a press conference and declare, do not leave counting tables ... they might change data in computers, giving our numbers to BJP and BJP's to us, I myself will go to the counting hall, I can do that as a candidate. You have gone through so much. Please bear slightly more to save Bengal,” she said.
Many opposition leaders across states have recently called for guarding the EVM strongrooms, amid fears of irregularities.
"We will return to power by winning more than 226 of 294 assembly seats in Bengal,” the chief minister added.
What the exit polls have predicted for West Bengal
According to Matrize, the TMC+ may fall short of the majority mark by a few seats, winning between 125 and 140 constituencies. It gave the BJP an edge, predicting it may win 146–161 seats, indicating a close contest between the two main parties.
A similar projection was given by pollster P-Marq, which said the BJP is expected to take the lead with 150–175 seats, while the incumbent Trinamool Congress may win 118–138 seats. It also projected that other parties could secure between two and six seats.
Polls Poll Diary predicted a clear win for the BJP, stating that the party may win 142–171 seats, while the TMC may fall well short of the majority mark with just 99–127 seats.
However, pollster People’s Pulse offered a different projection, suggesting that the incumbent TMC government may retain power in the state, though its tally could drop to 177–187 seats from the current 215 in the Assembly. It projected that the BJP would secure 95–110 seats.
CNN-News18's Vote Vibe has projected a neck-and-neck fight between the Trinamool and the BJP. The pollster predicted 143-163 seats for the BJP and 127-147 seats for the TMC+ alliance. The prediction gives an edge to the BJP in terms of overall vote share, at 44%, and predicted 43% for the Trinamool Congress and 13% for other parties.