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Conjecture & surmise in imagined realities

The use of statistical tools might give exit polls a semblance of science but that does not make the inferences anything more than conjecture

Women voters show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting vote during the first phase of the general elections, at Umpher in Ri-Bhoi district
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Women voters show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting vote during the first phase of the general elections, at Umpher in Ri-Bhoi district

Somasekhar Sundaresan New Delhi
By the time you start reading this column, the actual final results of the Lok Sabha elections may not yet be fully out. Exit polls are loud and clear (perhaps more loud than clear) in terms of which way people have chosen.  All exit poll outcomes (barring two) have returned a sweeping runaway victory for the NDA and a rout for the UPA. 

The exit poll results have led to extensive airing of firm views on the real deal with India’s politics. Even a seasoned poll pundit like Yogendra Yadav has said the Congress party must die for a change in
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