Exuding confidence that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) would win more than 70 seats, party working president KT Rama Rao dismissed the exit poll results, besides appealing to the Election Commission of India to review its rules on permitting exit polls even as polling was on in a few constituencies.
“What is the rush to declare exit poll results even as people are standing in line to cast their votes. These were Congress tactics to influence voters and it is unfair,” he said.
“I spoke to Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj over phone and appealed to him to control the practice of declaring exit polls in a hurry. They can be released the next day after the polling is completely over,” KT Rama Rao said at a press conference here on Thursday.
Regarding the exit poll results, the BRS working president rubbished those that were released on Thursday and reminded that during the 2018 elections too, four out of five agencies had got their exit polls completely wrong.
“This is not new to us and we have seen them in the past. I promise that on December 3, we are coming back with 70 plus seats. Earlier, I said 88 seats but there were some problems in a few places,” Rama Rao said.
Appealing to the BRS cadre and leaders not to get confused and disheartened by the exit polls, he said the agencies generally come to conclusions after conducting a small survey of 200 samples. The reputation of the agencies was at stake and people would not believe them anymore, he said.
“How can exit polls be released while polling is still under progress? This is illogical and stupid. The Election Commission is at fault and needs to review its guidelines,” he said.
BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had declared the candidates for contesting the elections on August 21. It has been over 90 days and since the party leaders and workers have worked hard and I thank each one of them for striving for the party’s victory, he said.
On the poor voter turnout in Hyderabad again, the BRS working president said he was helpless. It happens in all Metros including Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Those in urban areas do not turn up for voting up but would be the first to lodge complaints on different issues, he said.
He also thanked the officials for conducting the elections smoothly. Save for minor skirmishes like the Dubbak BRS candidate being stabbed and a few other BRS candidates being attacked, the entire election campaign and polling had passed off peacefully, he added.
