If the biggest national news on Saturday was Delhi going to assembly polls, from evening onwards it was the exit polls which stole all attention. Exit polls have become an inseparable part in Indian elections now and a considerable amount of interest was generated this time also. They have arrived and the queer commonality that has marked all of them is the prediction that AAP is going to be the clear winner and Congress a big disappointment, both exactly similar to what happened in 2015. Although the actual results will only be available on February 11, the fact that almost all the pollsters predicting a single party sweep is rather uncommon and if it actually turns out to be so, it will surely compel the BJP to go for some self-introspection to search causes of their faultlines.
If the unanimity of choosing AAP as the indisputable winner is something a bit strange vis-à-vis the redoubtable Modi-Shah led BJP, voter turnout in Delhi this time has also shown some extraordinary behavioural pattern. As per ECI data, till 4 pm when only 42.29 % of votes had been cast, after 2 hours at 6 pm it surged up to 57.03 %, giving rise to speculations that this late increase can upset predictions which were based on voting till 4 pm. Some experts are also seeing it as something of a hope for the BJP, even if the popular feeling is that these last minute votes can do little positively to affect saffron party’s fortunes, if, for argument’s sake it is accepted that majority of it had gone to them. Coming to predictions, which had been in hordes this time, NDTV Poll of Polls had given AAP 50, India Today-Axis My India 59-68, Times Now-Ipsos  47, ABP News-CVoter 49-63, News X-Polstrat 50-56, India News Nation 55, Jan Ki Baat  48-61, TV9 Bharatvarsh Cicero 54, News X-Neta 53-57 and even Republic Jan Ki Baat 48-61. And for the century-old party of India, the Congress, most of them have given 0, 1 and maximum 2 or 3. And although it is always said that exit polls in India are always to be taken with a grain of salt, all the above forecasts coming out to be wrong en masse is also rather unthinkable.
Delhi election which has a voter strength of 1.47 crore for a 70-seat assembly seems tiny in size. But the consequences emanating from the actual results will be much larger in the national context since it will reflect what people feels and wants right at the moment- actual development or a cacophony of some distractive and outlandish narratives on issues that have little or no bearing on daily life. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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