Exit polls get it wrong yet again

NEW DELHI: Exit polls, which had given a clear majority to Congress in Haryana and an edge to National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, appear to have failed to feel the pulse of the voters once again.

The results of the assembly elections showed that BJP was set to form the government for a record third consecutive term in Haryana and the National Conference-Congress alliance comfortably coming to power in Jammu and Kashmir.

Virtually all exit polls had forecast more than 50 seats for the Congress in the 90-member Haryana assembly and showed the BJP struggling to cross the 30-figure mark.

C-Voter-India Today exit polls had pegged the Congress at 50-58 seats and the BJP at 20-28, the Republic Bharat-Matrize had predicted 55-62 seats for the Congress and 18-24 for the BJP.

As the results trickled in, the BJP had won 48 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the Congress was restricted to 37 seats.

The C-Voter-India Today exit poll had given 40-48 seats to the National Conference-Congress alliance, with the regional outfit getting 33 seats, and the BJP was forecast to win 27-32 seats.

The Republic-Gulistan poll had given 28-30 seats to the National Conference, 3-6 seats to the Congress, and 28-30 seats to the BJP.

The Peoples’ Pulse had predicted 33-35 seats to the National Conference, 13-15 seats to the Congress and 23-27 seats to the BJP.

The actual results had the National Conference winning 42 seats, while the Congress managed to win six seats. The CPI(M), also a part of the alliance, emerged victorious in one seat.

Earlier this year, several exit polls had predicted a massive victory BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, giving the ruling party seats in excess of 350 in the 543-member House. The BJP managed to win 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, and 293 along with its allies.