Exit poll tonic for BJP in Bengal The forecasts have suddenly infused a sense of confidence in the BJP leaders, who were holding their horses earlier

The Bengal BJP headquarters in Calcutta on Monday. Picture by Aditya Nag

TT, 21 May 2019: Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Monday said the party would get 24 seats and 41 per cent of votes in the state, while some leaders said in private that two-digit tally predicted by most exit polls was “unexpected”.

Most leaders, who were unwilling to hazard a guess on the BJP’s performance in Bengal till Sunday afternoon, have started forecasting the party’s prospect of bagging the maximum number of seats.

Leading the pack was state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who claimed that the saffron party would surpass the Trinamul tally.

During an interaction with the media, Ghosh referred to the ABP-Nielsen exit polls and said the actual result would be more in favour of the BJP.

“The numbers and the percentage of votes for the BJP and Trinamul that are being shown would be reversed. The BJP in Bengal will get 24 seats and 41 per cent of votes. Trinamul will gain 16 seats and 39 per cent of votes, not the other way around,” Ghosh said at the state party headquarters at 6, Muralidhar Sen Lane, here.

He was also the BJP candidate in the Midnapore Lok Sabha seat.

The ABP-Nielsen exit polls showed that Trinamul would get 24 seats and the BJP 16 in the state.

Except TV 18, which has given the BJP five seats in Bengal, most other channel have predicted a band between 11 and 22 for the party in their respective opinion polls.

The forecasts have suddenly infused a sense of confidence into the BJP leaders, who were holding their horses till Sunday evening.

Although BJP national chief Amit Shah had set a target of 23 out of the 42 seats in Bengal, state leaders have been cagey about achieving the tally. While most state leaders would refrain from making any guesses about the tally, others would talk about factors — like lack of organisation strength and the possibility of large-scale rigging the Trinamul — that could come in the way of meeting the target.

“All these exit poll results have given us a reason to cheer and believe that yes we can,” said a source.

The national leaders of the BJP have been hopeful of a stellar show in Bengal since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when the party’s vote share zoomed to 17 per cent. The Assembly polls, two years later, punctured the hope as it nosedived to 10.31 per cent.

“We have always been held as poor performers despite having the promise. Finally, it seems, things are going to change,” said a state leader.

Though the exit poll results gave the state leaders reasons to celebrate, sources said they were advised from Delhi not to go overboard with the poll predictions.

“In private, the leaders discussed the poll predictions threadbare and seat-by-seat,” said a source, adding that the ABP-Nielsen forecast had produced “unexpected results”.

“The forecast has given us seats like Murshidabad, Hooghly, Arambagh and Howrah… In our internal calculations, we were not hopeful about these seats. We are just wondering what happened,” added the source.

Other than the exit poll outcomes, the state BJP leaders also discussed the post-poll violence that has already being reported from various parts of Bengal.

“Our brigade is ready to retaliate against any attempt by Trinamul goons to attack our workers. Trinamul should get ready for terrible predicaments if post-poll violence are reported across the state,” said Ghosh.