On Karnataka exit poll, Amit Malviya says, ‘Keep an ambulance handy in case’

Karnataka Assembly 2023 exit polls have given an edge to the Congress ahead of the BJP as the result of the 224-member assembly election is awaited on May 13.

But the BJP is pinning their hope that the exit polls got it all wrong. BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya said there is nothing that suggests that the Congress will have a ‘run away win’ — not in voting percentage, not on the ground. “There are just Exit Polls and not the actual result. Keep an ambulance handy in case the result flips, which is very likely,” Malviya tweeted. Seven out of eight prominent exit polls predicted victory for the Congress including four giving a majority to the Congress. The other three said the Congress will not achieve the majority mark alone but will emerge as the single-largest party. Only one exit poll gave BJP an edge.

There are precedences when exit polls got it way off the mark in past and that’s what the BJP leaders are leaning on. “Exit polls are, after all, exit polls and even most projections are predicting a close finish. However, from what I have been able to pick up from our ground sources, it is 100 per cent clear that we are going to return with an absolute majority. The real outcome will only be known on May 13. So, let’s wait for the result day,” Basavaraj Bommai said.

With the projections of a hung house, JD(S) is likely to play the role of the kingmaker, the exit polls estimated. The Congress, confident of a majority, has ruled out alliance with the JD(S). In the last 38 years, Karnataka never voted the incumbent party increasing the chance of a Congress win which will be crucial a before the Lok Sabha election.

“My first reaction (to the exit-poll projections) is that I don’t believe these numbers. I stand by my assessment, that we will win more than 146 seats. People are knowledgeable and educated and have voted considering the larger interests of the state. The double engine has failed in Karnataka. Such a situation (which might prompt the Congress to go into a post-poll alliance) will not arise,” Karntaka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said.

In a major takeaway, India Today-My Axis exit poll predicted defeat for Jagadish Shettar, the former CM, who left the BJP and joined the Congress ahead of the election. As per My Axis’s survey, Shettar’s exit is unlikely to dent BJP’s Lingayat votes and Shettar is likely to be defeated from Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly seat to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai.