Stunned with the dismal performance predicted in almost all the Exit polls aired by prominent electronic media groups, Congress leaders still hope of a `turn-around’ when the results would be announced on Friday.
Many senior leaders believed that a hand sum number of their colleagues would sailed through this Modi’s `storm’ after riding high on minority vote bank which had pushed them to top position during the last Parliament elections. However, what kept the leaders morale at their bottom is the approach of their state president, Nirmal Khatri, who did not bothered to turn up at the state head-quarter to take on the media which almost write them off in this election.
``We don’t believe either in opinion poll or on exit polls as they were not based on facts or prevailing conditions but were concocted as per the whims of the media house”, disclosed spokesman of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) Amarnath Agarwal, while confirming that in wake of the above the Party high-command had already directed them to keep themselves away in any such discussions on electronic media which were based on self proclaimed `surveys’. ``We well be part of the discussion when the results will start pouring in on Friday as they were based on facts and not on whims”, added Amarnath.
``Why should be discuss anything on basis of opinion or exit polls as in the past they were already proved wrong”, claimed another senior Congress leader and former PCC member, Siddharth Priya Srivastava while citing the outcome of results in 2004 and 2009 Parliament elections. ``In 2004, entire media houses highlighted the BJP’s slogan of India Shinning and showed that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would go for another term but the results showed that the media presented a concocted picture”, disclosed Congress leader.
``Even in 2009, media showed that United Progressive Alliance government has been rejected by the electorate and in UP, they will hardly win the seat of Rae Bareli and Amethi, but we made a record by winning 21 seats in UP alone and later one more seat in by-elections”, added Srivastava saying that when they know very well that how the BJP used these media houses during elections and influenced them to show defeat of UPA leaders than it is better that they should keep themselves away from such `designs’ and let the public itself exposed the much publicised media campaign.
Another senior Congress leader and incharge of minority affairs in UPCC, Maroof Khan, too turned down media projection and said that results would expose the `credibility’ of many media groups. ``They write us off even before the elections started and all through the campaigning, the media projected Narendra Modi as if he had already became prime minister of this nation and Congress is defeated”, asserted Khan while accusing media of their biased campaign. ``In this election we faced no threat from BJP but we had to fight the media who projected Congress as if had not done a single development or welfare work and are only involved in corruption”, added Khan while showing his confidence that just like in 2004, 2009 Parliament elections, the opinion and exit polls of the media will be again turned out to be just a `planned’ campaign against Congress and it’s allies partners and not on facts prevalent in the country.