Waiting for actual results, says CPI(M)‘s Manik Sarkar after exit polls

Former Tripura Chief Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) Polit Bureau (PB) member Manik Sarkar on Sunday refrained from speculating on the number of seats that the INDIA bloc may win in the Lok Sabha election. He said that he was waiting for the actual results to be declared on June 4.

In response to the exit poll projections, he told presspersons that the INDIA leaders have declared their own numbers based on surveys from each State. While he did not reject the numbers shown by the exit polls, he emphasised that “the INDIA leaders have their own projections.”

He also acknowledged that in a democracy, one party will win and another will lose in an election. He said that everyone is eagerly waiting for the actual results on June 4.

The exit polls have brought joy to the ruling BJP in the State, with party supporters celebrating the predicted results in some places. Party State president Rajib Bhattacharjee confidently said that the party would win 400 seats in the Lok Sabha as projected by the exit polls.

He expressed no doubt about the party’s ability to win both Lok Sabha seats in Tripura by a large margin.

However, Congress leader and former Minister Sudip Roy Barman criticised the exit poll organisers and accused them of being hired to create confusion and manipulate the vote counting process. He said that the actual outcome of the polls would be the opposite of what has been projected on television channels.