“The exit poll numbers are a sham”, Mamata Banerjee exudes confidence in SP, TMC, RJD, DMK but stays silent on Congress

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has rejected the exit poll predictions for Bengal, calling them vague, fake and “manufactured with motive”. The exit polls, most of them have given the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) edge over Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies. In 2019, BJP had won 18 out of the 42 seats, taking their vote share at their all-time best of 40% in the state.

“These exit poll numbers are fake and done by BJP stooges two months back. They have prepared the data at their homes. I don’t believe these numbers. The company that has prepared the exit poll data is a BJP company. This is total sham”, said Mamata Banerjee to a TV channel on Sunday. The Trinamool supremo urged her workers not to be demotivated and warned all the TMC counting agents to not let their guards fall, out of any disgruntlement or disappointment. She termed the numbers a sham.

“Those who are working for a high voltage victory for Modi, they should be told that it won’t be that easy this time. How long will the government last at the Centre is doubtful. There is a lot of mathematics and we too have our mathematics” she added while asserting her support for the INDIA alliance. However, she lamented that Congress had allegedly tried using money to fragment the Muslim votes at few seats in Bengal. “I am with the INDIA alliance but we will not like being dictated by the Left. Why should CPIM try to monitor? Every party has their self-respect”, said Mamata Banerjee. She also indicated that after the results, she will bring along other regional parties together. While she didn’t comment on Congress’ expected performance but she exuded confidence in Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav in Bihar and DMK’s MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu.

She accused the Bengal Congress and the CPM of collaborating with the BJP in order to split the minority votes. “BJP paid Congress to divide the votes in minority areas. But am confident that minorities haven’t fallen into their trap”, Mamata Banerjee added in her six minutes long phono interview to a Bengali news channel.