BJP savours exit poll projections, Cong, JD(U) dismiss it

May 13, 2014
New Delhi, May 13: Exit polls projections that the NDA would form the next governmment were savoured by BJP but dismissed by Congress and JD(U) which said parties should await the poll results on Friday, citing how such an exercise in 2004 and 2009 went wrong.cong_bjp

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also dismissed the projections as a "great time pass" while Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal claimed they are "manipulated". Agarwal further claimed that Narendra Modi will never become the prime minister.

The BJP-led NDA is projected to form the government at the Centre with exit polls last night giving between 249 and 290 seats to the Modi-led grouping, which is close to the half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Counting of votes will be taken up on Friday.

An upbeat BJP claimed it will do better than what the exit polls have predicted, stressing that the NDA will cross the 300-seat mark.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said NDA will surpass its average tally of 270-275 given to it as the coalition will sweep Seemandhra in alliance with TDP and do better in other places.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley took a jibe at Congress, saying if the ruling party was finding it difficult to accept reality now they should accept defeat on May 16.

Congress while dismissing the exit poll projections of a dismal performance by it, said a sample survey of a few lakh people cannot predict Lok Sabha election results.

"In a country of 800 million voters how can few lakh sample size surveys predict the result? Let's wait for 16th May (when votes will be counted)," Congress leader Digvijay Singh tweeted.

Party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed said the exit polls were proved wrong in the 2004 and 2009 elections and the party would wait for the actual results.

Downplaying the exit poll predictions, Union Minister Kamal Nath also recalled that in 2004 and 2009 they were far off the mark and failed to foresee the swing in favour of Congress, and said it would be better to wait for the actual outcome.

"The only exit poll that matters is the one that is slated for Friday, the rest are all great time pass," Omar said on Twitter.

Omar also questioned the credibility of the opinion polls in view of the vast difference between two surveys in the number of Lok Sabha seats expected to be won by parties in a particular state.

Citing the example of Rajasthan, the Chief Minister wrote: "So one channel gives Cong only two (seats) in Rajasthan & another gives them 14. Did these channels cover the same election?"

With exit polls showing a poor performance by JD(U) in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dismissed the projections and said the results should be waited for.

"Yah to aap log bol rahe hai (you are saying this)," Kumar told reporters in Patna in reply to repeated questions on exit poll projections in Bihar

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 19,2020

Mar 19: Amidst spiralling cases of COVID-19 in the country, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday advocated "absorbing sunlight" as a possible precaution against coronavirus that has claimed over 8,000 lives globally.

Speaking to reporters outside parliament, Choubey said 10-15 minutes in the sun would build immunity as sunlight provides Vitamin D.

"From 11 am to 2 pm the sun is shining brightly. We should spend at least 10-15 minutes to absorb sunlight so that we get vitamin D which improves the immunity of our body and also kills such viruses. All should be aware of (this fact)," he said when asked about the spread of coronavirus.

COVID-19 cases in India climbed to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Union health ministry.

The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore.

The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.

According to the World Health Organisation, the novel coronavirus has killed over 8,000 people globally and infected more than two lakh.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: India's COVID tally on Monday crossed 14 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 49,931 cases reported in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 cases stand at 14,35,453, including 4,85,114 active cases, 9,17,568 cured/discharged/migrated, it added.

With 708 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 32,771.

India had crossed 13 lakhs COVID-19 cases on July 25.

Maharashtra has reported 3,75,799 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 2,13,723 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,30,606 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 5,15,472 samples were tested for coronavirus on Sunday and overall 1,68,06,803 samples have been tested so far.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he is not going to lie about Chinese transgressions in eastern Ladakh even if it costs him politically, asserting he will say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned.

Gandhi made these remarks in a tweet, along with an over-a-minute-long video, as part of a series launched by him on the India-China face-off along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Asked in the video how he would react to people who say his questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on China weakened India, the former Congress chief said, "If you want me to lie that the Chinese have not entered this country, I am not going to lie. I will simply not do it. I do not care if my whole career goes to hell. I am not going to lie."

"This disturbs me. Frankly, it makes my blood boil. How can some other nation just come into our territory?"

"Hiding the truth is anti-national. Bringing it to people's attention is patriotic," Gandhi said.

"So frankly, I do not care if it costs me politically. I do not care if I have no political career at all after that. But I am going to say the truth as far as Indian territory is concerned," he added.

Gandhi has been repeatedly attacking the prime minister and the government over Chinese transgressions on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

"As an Indian, my number one priority is the nation and its people," he said on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Gandhi over his attack on the government on the Ladakh face-off, alleging he is seeking to politicise defence and foreign policy matters and "wash their past sins of 1962 and weaken India".

BJP president JP Nadda has also alleged that for years, a dynasty has been trying to destroy Modi, while adding that those who want to destroy the prime minister will only end up causing further damage to their own party.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.