LS elections: Cong rejects exit poll predictions, says INDIA bloc will win all 5 seats in J&K

Jammu, Jun 2 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Sunday rejected the exit poll predictions and exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc would win all five Lok Sabha seats in the union territory.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani said the exit polls were a BJP-managed exercise to hurt the morale of workers of opposition parties and create psychological pressure so that no one could raise a question in case of a fraud.

“Please don’t do anything like what was done in Bangladesh, Pakistan or Russia. People will lose faith in democracy which is not good for the country,” Wani, flanked by Jammu and Kashmir Congress working president Raman Bhalla and senior vice president Ravinder Sharma, told reporters at the party headquarters here.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

Wani said the exit polls have caused a “strange disappointment” among the people because the predictions are the opposite of what surveys conducted earlier by various impartial organisations and the Congress stated.

“The exit polls are biased and carry the stamp of the BJP and the RSS,” he said.

Even in 2014 and 2019, when the BJP was riding the Modi wave and on nationalistic sentiments after the Pulwama attack, respectively, the party did not win as many seats as is being projected now when people are desirous of change and want the ouster of the Modi government, he said.

Many pollsters said the BJP-led NDA may surpass its 2019 tally of 353 seats. The BJP had won 303 seats in the election. The Congress had bagged 53 seats and its allies 38.

Terming the exit polls misleading, Wani claimed the INDIA bloc is going to win all the five seats in Jammu and Kashmir and Modi will not return to power for the third time.

“The Congress will win the Udhampur seat by a margin of over one lakh votes and the Jammu seat by a much bigger margin while our alliance partner National Conference will win all the three seats in Kashmir,” he said, claiming massive support for the INDIA bloc candidates in both regions.

Even though the BJP may emerge as the single-largest party with 150-170 seats, the INDIA bloc will form the next government, he said.

“When the EVMs will open (on June 4), we will be celebrating on the roads… Elections come and go but we need to strengthen democracy,” he said.