Karnataka CM rejects exit poll results giving Congress edge over BJP

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai rejected the exit poll results, which gave Congress an edge over the ruling BJP in the assembly elections and asserted that his party will win

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday rejected the exit poll results, which gave Congress an edge over the ruling BJP in the assembly elections and asserted that his party will win with clear majority. He also said the high voter turnout always favoured the BJP and not the Congress as some rival leaders have been claiming.

Exit polls are exit polls. They can't be 100 per cent correct. There will be variation that can change the whole scenario, Bommai told reporters in his home constituency Shiggaon, from where he is contesting the election.

Our ground report says we will win with absolute majority. Let us wait till May 13 (when the counting will happening), the CM said.

To a question about the Congress being buoyed by the voter turnout, and seeing it is a positive sign for the party, Bommai replied that it is the other way round. "See, more number of voters turning out is always better for the BJP, not the Congress. It shows that lot of people who otherwise do not vote have voted especially in the urban areas."

Those votes are coming to the BJP, he said.

Most exit polls on Wednesday predicted a close contest between the Congress and the BJP in the high-stakes Karnataka Assembly polls with many pollsters giving an edge to the grand old party.