Major political parties reject exit polls

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad too did not agree with the exit poll projections and asserted that his party will emerge as the single largest party with 166 seats.

The Left parties too refused to lap up the predictions telecast by different news channels last night. CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat dismissed the exit-poll results,saying he did not believe in them.

CPI National Secretary D Raja termed exit polls as “speculation” and said the actual situation will emerge only after the results are out on Saturday.

On exit polls indicating poor performance by SP,its President Mulayam Singh Yadav said he did not trust such surveys.

Terming exit polls as “politically inspired”,SP leader Amar Singh said they cannot decide on the fate of political parties already sealed in EVMs.

He pointed out that during the last general elections,his party was shown not as a big gainer. “But we managed 40 seats. Therefore,we do not go by the exit polls,” he said.

Exit polls have shown NDA getting 185 to 196 seats in the 543-member House against 190 to 205 seats for UPA. Projecting a highly-fractured verdict,the surveys have placed the Third Front at a little over 100 seats.

Exit polls had been wide off the mark in 2004 Lok Sabha polls,with most of them projecting BJP-led NDA as the winner which did not turn out to be correct.

Ultimately,in 2004 elections the Congress and its pre-poll allies got 216 seats against a projection ranging from 170 to 205 seats. The BJP-led NDA secured 187 seats against the projections of over 240 to 250 seats.