Except Cong, J&K political parties skeptical of exit polls

Almost all political leaders except those belonging to Congress have dismissed the exit polls with former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice president, Omar Abdullah calling these “pass time exercises”.

Senior most J&K politician, Dr Farooq Abdullah plainly said, “I don’t trust these exit polls”. His son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “I’m amazed channels are bothering with exit polls, especially after the fiasco of the recent general elections. I’m ignoring all the noise on channels, social media, WhatsApp Etc because the only numbers that matter will be revealed on the 8th of Oct. The rest is just time pass”.

Tarun Chugh, national general secretary and BJP in charge of J&K polls said, “Outcome will defy the findings of the exit polls”.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Zuhaib Mir said, “As far as we are concerned, exit polls are not a serious activity but time pass activity. PDP is confident that it will be an indispensable and important part of the secular government that will form in J-K. PDP will have an important role in forming any secular government. We had said that we are ready to take any step to save the identity of Kashmir but for this, it is important that we formulate a secular government, a government against BJP not with them.”

Lok Sabha member and president of Awami Itihad Party (AIP), Engineer Rashid said, “Everybody is at liberty to have an exit poll. They know better what was the criteria. Let us wait for October 8, as I’ve never relied on exit polls.”

Interestingly, Congress is the only political party that expressed confidence on the numbers predicted for the party by the exit polls. JKPCC president, Tariq Hameed Karra said, “The projections by various exit polls has vindicated the stand of the Congress and proved the public anger against the BJP.”

It must be mentioned that most polls have shown the Congress-NC staying ahead in the race but failing to cross the magic number, thereby leading to the possibility of a hung House in the 90-member Assembly.

A Poll of polls shows the Congress-NC alliance fetching 43 seats, three less than the majority mark of 46.

According to India Today-C Voter exit polls, the National Congress (NC)-Congress alliance is projected to win between 40-48 seats while the BJP is likely to bag 27-32 seats. Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is seen fetching 6-12 seats while others are seen pocketing another 6-12 seats, an unusually high strike rate for Independent candidates in the valley.

According to Dainik Bhaskar, the Congress-NC combine is expected to emerge as the largest alliance, however, staying short of the halfway mark. The alliance is seen bagging 35-40 seats, the BJP getting 20-25 while the PDP managing with just 4-7 seats. Others including Independents are seen emerging as big players in this exit polls, as they are projected to claim victory in as many as 16 seats.

Peoples Pulse exit poll gives the NC-Congress alliance a clear mandate, with its numbers crossing the halfway mark. It is expected to get 46-50 seats while the BJP will be reduced to 23-27 seats and the PDP will get 7-11 seats. All the polling agencies have predicted a clear majority for the BJP in the Jammu region, however Congress-NC tie-up is also seen posing a challenge in the region.

In the Kashmir Valley, people’s mandate is seen heavily tilted towards the NC-Congress alliance while the PDP is failing to repeat its clout, like earlier. Even in the case of a fractured mandate, the NC-Congress alliance is expected to be way ahead of its closest rival BJP and in a better position to form the government, the first in the UT after abrogation of Article 370.