Dubbing such polls as "urban-oriented, with no credentials", Singh said, the polls hardly represent a majority view considering that those interviewed by pollsters do not constitute even a hundredth fraction of the electorate. Especially, the rural mass, he remarked while reacting to a question during an informal talk with newsmen at Ravi Bhavan here.

Singh described the exit polls as a "bigger fraud" for the simple reason that no individual would provide a correct answer about which candidate he or she has voted for.

During last year's Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and other three states, all exit as well as opinion polls had forecast a defeat for the ruling Congress in MP. This was proved contrary to the final outcome, he pointed out.

The Congress voters represent a class ofsilent voters with an unflinching faith in the leadership qualities of party president Sonia Gandhi and they know that only the Congress can provide stable governance, he said. In general context, the common man too was in favour of the Congress, having realised that the present BJP-led dispensation had failed to deliver, he added.

Singh maintained that the Congress would come close to majority, if not securing a majority, in the next Lok Sabha with Madhya Pradesh contributing a healthy 25 to 30 of the 40 LS seats in the state. ``You will be surprised by the results in Uttar Pradesh,'' he quipped while suggesting that the ruling BJP was in for a severe setback in the state which sends the largest numbers of MPs to the Lok Sabha.

Apart from UP, the Congress and allies were set to make good gains in Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Singh observed.

He insisted that the anti-incumbency factor hardly mattered in a state like Madhya Pradesh for such factors come intoplay only when the administration is centralised. In a de-centralised state like Madhya Pradesh, the factor would be shared and would hardly have an effect on the final outcome.

Asked about Maharashtra, Singh said, the votes by minorities and Dalits would prove decisive in the three-cornered fight between the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP-Sena alliance. Whichever party garners maximum votes of minorities and Dalits stands to gain hugely, he said, adding, that voters from these sections have always favoured the Congress.

Singh reiterated that Pawar was wrong in leaving Congress, the way he did. Sonia's leadership was never an issue within the party and by challenging it, Pawar did a somersault. ``Otherwise, how can you explain when he says that Sonia is fit to be the AICC president but not the prime minister,'' he wondered.

Singh avoided making a comment on the prospect of Pawar rejoining the party in future a la Arjun Singh-N D Tiwari. ``This is between himand the CWC, I have no role to play,'' he remarked.

When asked whether he saw a larger role for himself at the Centre after the polls results, Singh expressed that he was happy to be where he was at the present juncture. ``I am happy to be where I am.''