RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday dismissed the exit polls – most of which have given an edge to the NDA – and said that the 76 lakh more votes cast this time were “ones for change and not for keeping Nitish Kumar as CM”.
Speaking to reporters in the state capital, Patna, Tejashwi said, “When people were still casting their votes, sundry exit poll results were streaming in. It clearly shows it is a bid to put psychological pressure on officials. I have apprehensions of slow counting.”
The RJD leader said they had received encouraging feedback from the ground. “We are going to get 160-plus seats. In fact, we have better pre-counting feedback than the Janata Dal got in 1995.”
Tejashwi was referring to several pollsters not giving a majority to the Janata Dal, which eventually got a clear majority because of the EBCs voting for Lalu Prasad that year.
Referring to a surge of 76 lakh votes as compared to the last assembly polls, Tejashwi said, “These extra votes are ones for change and not to keep Nitish Kumar in the chair… After all, several opinion polls did not see Nitish Kunar crossing 18 per cent votes for the CM choice.”
Tejashwi, who attended 85 public meetings, said that he sensed an urge for change among youth and women. He added that agencies doing exit polls were not revealing their sample size.
“In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, these exit polls had been giving NDA 400-plus. Everyone saw where the NDA landed later… We are confident of forming the next government.”
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The results for the Bihar polls will be announced on Friday.
