Bihar Assembly Election: Tejashwi Yadav’s BIG claim on exit polls, says predictions done at ‘direction’ of…

Bihar Assembly Election: RJD leader and INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav has expressed confidence that the Mahagathbandhan would form the government in Bihar with a “thumping majority”, and rejected exit polls that predicted the NDA retaining power in Bihar, alleging that such poll predictions were being made at the “direction” of the BJP’s top leadership.

What did Tejashwi Yadav say?

“Exit polls are nothing. These forecasts have been made at the direction of the BJP’s top leadership. The INDIA bloc is going to form the government with a thumping majority. High turnout of voters in the Bihar assembly polls indicates that people want a change in government. They voted in favour of ‘Mahagathbandhan’…We will take the oath on Nov 18,” Tejashwi  Yadav told reporters at a press conference in Patna on Wednesday.

Yadav claimed  that “around 72 lakh additional voters cast their votes to change the ruling government in Bihar”, and alleged that the BJP will attempt to delay the counting process.

“BJP leaders will certainly try to delay the counting process. We will not allow this to happen at any cost. We are keeping a close watch on their activities,” he claimed.

Exit polls predict NDA return

The RJD leader’s comments came a day after major exit polls predicted NDA retaining power in Bihar, and a poor showing by the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’ aka the INDIA bloc. The exit polls also forecasted a disappointing performance for former poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.

Voting for the second and final phase of Bihar Assembly Election was conducted on Tuesday, ending with a record-breaking turnout of nearly 69 percent. In the first phase, on November 6, a “record” 65.09 per cent of 3.75 crore electors had cast their vote across 121 constituencies.

The counting of votes will take place on November 14 and results will be declared on the same day.

(With PTI inputs)