"Wait till May 4": TMC leader Shashi Panja rejects exit polls

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 29 (ANI): Reacting to exit poll projections for the West Bengal Assembly elections, TMC leader Shashi Panja on Wednesday said that the final outcome should be awaited and accused the Election Commission and central forces of influencing the electoral process.
Speaking to ANI, Panja said that the results would only be clear on the counting day and rejected exit poll projections.
"We should wait till the 4th of May. The ECI and the central government will have to take responsibility for the way the elections were conducted, the way people's emotions were stirred up, and the way the central forces treated those who voted on election day," she said.
She further alleged that voters were prevented from exercising their franchise in some areas. "You deprived many people of voting. The answer to all this will be seen on May 4th," Panja said.
Referring to past exit poll trends, she added that similar predictions had gone wrong earlier as well. "We've seen exit polls like this before, when they were sinking the TMC, but when the TMC emerged victorious, did anyone apologise? This keeps happening," she said.
When asked about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that the TMC would return with a two-thirds majority, Panja responded in agreement and stressed confidence in ground-level feedback.
"If you stay at the ground level and conduct an exit poll in a completely impartial manner, you will get an impartial evaluation," she said.
In their projections via exit polls, the pollsters on Wednesday projected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning West Bengal in the 2026 Assembly elections, whose polling concluded today evening.
The exit poll by Chanakya Strategies has projected 150-160 Assembly seats in the BJP's corner while placing Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) with 130-140 seats of the total 294 Assembly seats in the state.
Meanwhile, other parties are being projected to win six to 10 Assembly seats in West Bengal as per Chanakya Strategies.
According to exit poll projections by Matrize, the BJP is winning the West Bengal Assembly polls with 146-161, while TMC is projected to win 125 to 140 seats.
Meanwhile, as per Matrize too, other parties are being projected to win six to 10 Assembly seats in West Bengal.
The exit poll by Poll Diary has projected 142 to 171 Assembly seats in the BJP's corner, while placing Mamata Banerjee's party with 99 to 127 seats in West Bengal. Meanwhile, other political parties are projected to win five to nine Assembly seats.
These projections come after the final phase of polling for the high-octane West Bengal assembly elections concluded at 6 PM on Wednesday, with voter turnout hitting remarkable numbers at 90% before the closing hour. (ANI)