'Exit polls suggesting BJP is on back foot, people endorsing Congress'

New Delhi: Buoyed by the predictions of exit polls for assembly elections in five states, the Congress Friday said the polls are clearly suggesting people are endorsing it as an alternative and the BJP is on back foot.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party denied such claims and said the exit polls have been consistently under-projecting the BJP’s tally in all elections since 2014.

“The Congress can bask in gloat on exit poll results but this happy feeling would be short-lived,” BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.

The exit polls Friday predicted a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan.

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who is also party’s contender for the top post in Rajasthan, said “The anger was very palpable against the BJP in these elections and people were willing and happy to accept the blueprint given by the Congress. People want answers for questions which they have avoided for the last five years as price rise, farmers in distress, economy is collapsing.”

“It is very easy to see that the BJP is in back foot in all these five state assembly polls and the Congress is giving an alternative which most people are endorsing and that is the take away from these exit polls,” he said.

However, Pilot said it would be better to wait for December 11 to see the final results and added people are rejecting their propaganda-driven politics

The exit polls also predicted that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana will retain power, but forecast a hung assembly in Mizoram, where the Congress is in power. The counting of votes for all five states is scheduled for December 11.

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are all ruled by the BJP presently.