"Will not participate in exit poll debates", Congress in Denial mode before the results on 4th June ?

After almost 80 days of intense election campaign in scorching heat, the polling for  Lok Sabha elections 2024 concludes on Saturday. The final bout will witness the contest for 57 seats across 8 states and UTs. It will mark the end of the second-longest parliamentary election in the history of Independent India, as the first general election in 1951-1952 was concluded in 68 phases!

As the polling ends on Saturday evening, exit polls will be displayed in most of the prime time shows but even before the polling concludes the congress party denied to participate in any kind of exit poll debates on the T.V. and the social media platforms. “Voters have cast their votes and their verdict has been secured. The results will be out on 4th June. Prior to that, we do not see any reason to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRP. The Indian National Congress will not participate in the debates on #ExitPolls. The purpose of any debate should be to inform the people. We will happily partake in debates from 4th June onwards.”, posted Pawan Khera, the chairman of Media and Publicity dept of Congress, on his X handle.

“What's the point of speculation? Why should we indulge in meaningless speculation just to increase the TRPs of channels? There are some forces which are involved in betting. Why should we be a part of that? Everybody knows who he or she has voted for. Parties will get to know how many votes they got on the 4th of June. Why should we speculate?.. We are poised to win this election. INDIA alliance will be forming the government after the 4 June,” Pawan Khera said later speaking to ANI. 

But the announcement of the exit poll boycott by Congress started a new war of words between both BJP and Congress. The announcement evoked a strong reaction from Home Minister Amit Shah he said, “Congress has been in denial mode for so long...the whole election they kept campaigning that they were going to get the majority, but they know the situation that...in the coming exit polls, it will be their massive defeat, so they can't face the media. Therefore, they are boycotting the entire exit poll exercise,” speaking to news agency ANI.         

Regardless of the large hue and cry about the exit polls, it won’t be wrong to say that the exit polls are one essential part of the post-election and pre-result phase in the Indian democracy. The major TV networks which include, India Today-Axis, ABP-CSDS, News24-Today’s Chanakya, Times Now-VMR, India TV-CNX, etc, predict the election outcome based on their sample surveys conducted across the country with different methods. The voters also wait for their favorite exit poll survey in anticipation of the final result. 

Notably, the process of exit polls started long back in the Indian democracy and is not a new one! The first exit poll in India was conducted in 1957 when the Indian Institute of Public Opinion carried out a post-poll survey during the second Lok Sabha elections. Since then, different pollsters have carried out this exercise, and over time it has become a money-spinning industry for many. The Congress party also enjoyed the predictions of exit polls whenever they were favorable to it, the exit polls of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections of 2023 are one example of when the majority of the poll surveys predicted the comeback of the Congress party in the state and Congress spokespersons debated happily with their counterparts on different channels sensing a win in the state. 

Now as with just 3 days before the D-Day of the final results, the denial mode of Congress yet cast questions on another process which might display their weak performance, clearly showing the signs of apprehension and distrust for the process. The EVM rant is also not a new one and unsurprisingly there will be many who will blame the EVMs for the electoral loss.