Result will be in consonance with exit polls: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Slamming exit poll doubters, Union minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that when multiple exit polls convey the same message, “the direction of the result broadly would be in consonance with the message.” Most exit polls of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 have predicted Narendra Modi led BJP retaining power. The verdict will be out on May 23. The Union minister asserted that EVMs play no role in exit polls and when the verdict is out the Opposition’s “fake issue” of the EVMs would also lose its non-existent rationale.

“The hard reality is that when multiple exit polls convey the same message, the direction of theresult broadly would be in consonance with the message. Exit polls are based on personal interviews.  The EVMs have no role. If the results of the exit polls and final results on the May 23 are in the same direction, the Opposition’s fake issue of the EVMs would also lose its non-existent rationale,” wrote the senior BJP leader in a blogpost titled “The message of exit polls.”

“Many of us may continue to squabble over correctness and accuracy of the Exit Polls. The hard reality is that when multiple Exit Polls convey the same message, the direction of the result broadly would be in consonance with the message,” said the senior leader.

Observing that EVMs play no role in exit polls, the minister said if the actual results of the general election are in the same direction as exit polls, “the opposition’s fake issue of the EVMs would also lose its non-existent rationale”.

“If the exit polls are read along with the 2014 election results, it would be clear that there is a huge maturing of Indian democracy taking place. The electorate keeps national interest paramount before exercising a choice on whom to vote for. When well-meaning people with similar ideas vote in the same direction, it leads to the making of a wave,” he said.

Referring to the Congress, Mr Jaitley said that the Gandhi family has become a liability for the grand-old party. “ In the Congress the first family is no longer an asset but an albatross around neck of the Party. Without the family, they don’t get the crowd, with it they don’t get the votes,” he said.

He also said the personalised campaign against Mr Modi did not cut much ice in 2014 and may not cut any ice in 2019.

“Leaders are judged on merit and not on caste or family names. Thus, the Prime Minister’s style of rising above caste and concentrating on performance related issues received far more acceptability with the electorate,” Mr Jaitley said. He said the voters are no longer willing to trust ‘Coalition of Rivals’ as their alliances are untenable.

The arithmetic of caste coalitions is no longer valid and has yielded place to national interest. “Fake issues only satisfy the ‘manufacturers of fakery’. The voters don’t buy them,” Mr Jaitley added.

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