Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said the exit poll predictions by different private television channels are bogus and false and urged her party workers to not get swayed by the fake figures and to focus on the actual counting of votes. “I have seen the exit poll predictions in 2016, 2019 and 2021 and all of them had been far from reality. The exit polls have been manufactured by the BJP with hefty payments and the media are showing this. I have never seen such shameless media in my life,” she said.

“I will not say how many seats we will get but it will be much more than what the exit polls have predicted. I am sure Akhilesh and Tejashwi will do well in Utter Pradesh and Bihar,” she maintained, referring to Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. The Trinamul Congress, posting on its X handle, said: “As we witnessed in 2016, 2019 and 2021 exit poll predictions were completely wrong. Why? Because BJP pays hefty sums to the Godi media to create a wind and manipulate the final outcome. Smt @ MamataOfficial strongly condemned # ExitPolls, urging our party workers to stay strong and not to be swayed by these deceptive tactics.”

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In 2021 most exit polls for the Bengal Assembly elections had got it completely wrong. ABP C-Voter had predicted 152-164 seats for Trinamul Congress with 109 to 121 seats for the BJP and 16 to 25 seats for the Left. Republic-CNX had predicted 128-138 seats for Trinamul Congress, 138 to 148 seats for the BJP and 11-21 seats for the Left. Times Now C-Voter gave 158 seats to Trinamul Congress and 119 seats to the BJP while the Left were given 19 seats. Republic-Jan Ki Baat had given 104-121 seats to Trinamul Congress and 162- 185 seats to the BJP while the Left had been given 3-9 seats. P- MARQ had predicted 152- 172 seats for Trinamul Congress and 112-132 seats for the BJP while the Left were given 10-15 seats. ETG Research gave 164-176 seats to Trinamul Congress and 105-115 seats to the BJP while the Left were given 10-15 seats.

India Today-Axis My India gave 130-156 seats to Trinamul Congress, 134 to 160 seats to the BJP and 0-2 seats to the Left. India TV-PP gave 64-88 seats to Trinamul Congress and 173-192 seats to the BJP while the Left were given 7 – 12 seats. India News-JKB gave 104 -121 seats to Trinamul Congress and 162-185 seats to the BJP while the Left were given 3-9 seats. POLL START gave 142-152 seats to Trinamul Congress while the BJP were given 125-135 seats and the Left 16-26 seats. When the election results came out, Trinamul Congress got 213 seats and the BJP 77 seats while the Left parties failed to open their account. A senior Trinamul Congress leader said the whole exercise of exit poll will give a new gush of adrenaline to the BJP counting agents.

He alleged that in constituencies where the BJP candidate faces defeat by a slim margin, the counting agents will put pressure on the district magistrate to do recounting and help the candidate of the saffron party to win the seat. The apprehension of the Trinamul leader may not be without basis. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh alleged that in 150 counting centres the BJP might manipulate results and the district magistrates have already been instructed to order recounting where the BJP candidates have been defeated by a narrow margin