Karnataka polls: BJP sees silver lining in last-minute voter surge

NEW DELHI: Unruffled by the exit polls with most predicting a looming defeat, BJP leaders say they are still hopeful of getting an absolute majority in Karnataka as many believe the last minute surge in voter turnout was missed by pollsters and will help them retain the mandate.
Several party functionaries claimed most exit polls concluded by 3pm and the polling percentage increased significantly afterwards. Howe ver, those coming after 3pm to the booths were not part of the exit polls, therefore, pollsters’ predictions might be in sharp variance with the actual results.
Polling percentage till 3pm was 52. 18% and the final figure, as per the Election Commission, was 72. 82%, which means more than 20% of polling took place in the last three hours.
“With due respect to all celebrity pollsters, none of them predicted 282 in 2014 or 303 in 2019 or 156 in 2022 or 104 in 2018,” BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh tweeted.
Equally confident is chief minister Basavaraj Bommai as he reiterated that BJP will secure a “comfortable majority” based on their ground reports. Drawing a parallel to the previous elections in Uttar Pradesh, where exit polls were proven wrong, Bommai expressed trust in their own assessments.
Refuting the exit poll predictions, Bommai stated, “Last time, they (exit polls) predicted only 80 seats for BJP and 107 for Congress, but it came reverse… We are con fident with our ground reports and we will win with a comfortable majority. ”
Party veteran and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa had also said he was 100% confident th at the BJP would form the government with an absolute majority.
Booth workers and “panna pramukhs”, party workers assigned each page of the electoral roll in a constituency, have been the mainstay of BJP’s poll strategy. In his message to the party cadres recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a lso laid emphasis on coordination at the booth level and ensuring thatv oters reach the booths and cast their votes.