Exit polls have predicted a clear victory for the BJP and the NDA, with most of them giving the alliance over 350 Lok Sabha seats, but AAP's Somnath Bharti disagrees – strongly.
The MLA, who is also the INDIA alliance's candidate for the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, has said that all exit polls will be proven wrong on Tuesday, when the votes are counted, and he will shave his head if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister for the third time.
Most exit polls have also predicted that the BJP will win at least six of Delhi's seven seats, in line with its clean sweep in 2019. Mr Bharti has, however, insisted that it is the INDIA alliance – the AAP is contesting four seats and the Congress three – that will sweep Delhi this time and win all seven constituencies.
"I will shave off my head if Mr Modi becomes PM for the third time. Mark my word! All exit polls will be proven wrong on 4th June and Modi ji will not become prime minister for the third time. In Delhi, all seven seats will go to India ALLIANCE," Mr Bharti posted on X.
I will shave off my head if Mr Modi becomes PM for the third time.
Mark my word!
All exit polls will be proven wrong on 4th June and Modi ji will not become prime minister for the third time.
In Delhi, all seven seats will go to India ALLIANCE.
Fear of Mr Modi does not allow…— Adv. Somnath Bharti: इंसानियत से बड़ा कुछ नहीं! (@attorneybharti) June 1, 2024
The AAP leader is contesting against Bansuri Swaraj of the BJP in the New Delhi constituency. Ms Swaraj, who is the daughter of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, is making her electoral debut.
Urging people to wait for the counting to happen, he wrote, "Fear of Mr Modi does not allow exit polls to show him loose (sic). Hence we all need to wait for actual results scheduled to be delivered on June 4th. People have voted very heavily against @BJP4India."
NDTV's Poll of Polls, an aggregate of exit polls, shows the NDA winning 361 seats, up from 352 in 2019, and the INDIA alliance getting only 145.
The poll by News Nation has predicted victories in 342-378 constituencies for the NDA and between 153 and 169 for INDIA. The figures for Jan Ki Baat are 362-392 for the ruling coalition and 141-161 for the challenger.
Republic TV – P MARQ has given the NDA 358 and the INDIA 154.
While the BJP has said that the exit polls have vindicated its stand that it is winning easily and people want PM Modi to win a third straight term, many opposition leaders have echoed Mr Bharti's view that the exit polls are often wrong.
Speaking to NDTV, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the INDIA alliance's analysis puts it at 295 seats, 23 higher than the majority mark of 272.