Will Go Wrong: DK Shivakumar As Exit Polls Show NDA Ahead In Karnataka

“I am not confident with whatever the poll predictions have come,” he said.

Bengaluru:

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader DK Shivakumar said on Sunday that the exit polls would go wrong like they did during the state assembly elections last year.

He said that the exit polls predicted the Congress party would not assume power in Karnataka but eventually, they were proved wrong.

“Exit polls had predicted that the Congress party would not come to power during the last Assembly elections, but they were wrong. Exit polls had given only about 80-85 seats to Congress, but I had predicted we would win 136 seats as per the survey we had conducted. We eventually won 136 seats,” Shivakumar said while speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence on Sunday.

“I am not confident with whatever the poll predictions have come. In Karnataka, we have performed the best. According to my experience of the last 40 years, there was no Modi wave in Karnataka. BJP is looking at all emotional issues, we are looking at the development of every individual,” he said.

Shivakumar claimed the support of the people of Karnataka adding that they have reposed faith in Congress’ guarantee schemes.

“Exit polls would consider a very small sample size of 5000 people and hence I don’t believe in them. The people of Karnataka, especially women, have reposed faith in our guarantee schemes. I am sure they have supported us. Our guarantee schemes at the national level reached the people better in the second phase of the election,” he said.

“Congress does politics of development while BJP does politics of emotion. I won’t comment on the national results, but we will surely cross double digits in Karnataka,” he added.

The exit polls on Saturday predicted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning most of the seats in Congress-ruled Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections and the Congress not putting up a good show.

The India Today-Axis My India poll predicted NDA getting 23-25 seats and INDIA bloc 3-5 seats out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka.

The India TV exit poll said that the NDA is poised to win 19-25 seats in Karnataka, while the INDIA bloc is to get 4-8 seats. The exit poll by News18 predicted that NDA will get 23-26 seats and INDIA bloc will get 3-7 seats in Karnataka.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP almost swept the state by winning 25 out of 28 seats. Congress and JD(S) — who were in coalition in the state government — could only win one seat each.

The voting for 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka was held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 in the second and third phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)