Himachal Pradesh assembly elections: CM back after 12 days, says exit polls are unscientific, ban them

“I can’t give you a seat-wise prediction. But I can say that no anti-incumbency factor played against the Congress in the elections. That’s what makes me confident about the numbers,” Virbhadra Singh said

Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, HP assembly elections, exit polls, exit poll results, Himachal Pradesh exit poll results, Virbhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, Punjab News, Indian Express, Indian Express News

Virbhadra Singh (File)

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday rejected all predictions that BJP was forming government in the state and said that exit polls were manipulated and unscientific. “Exit polls should be banned in our country. These are not based on facts or real factors. I know the people’s pulse. I have been on the ground during campaigning. I have more sense of what people think than those conducting such exit polls. Exit polls have also been proved wrong in the past,” said the CM, as he returned to the state after 12 days. Singh said he was confident that when the results are out on December 18, the Congress will be in a comfortable position. The party has worked hard. The Congress will come back to power based on its track record of development, he said.

“I can’t give you a seat-wise prediction. But I can say that no anti-incumbency factor played against the Congress in the elections. That’s what makes me confident about the numbers,” he said. Virbhadra Singh said the BJP had done a smear campaign against him because they knew his track record of development in the state. He said even during his earlier terms, such development had not taken place.

The Congress leader, however, regretted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stooped that low during his campaigns in the state. It was unbecoming of a PM to use that kind of language, he said. “Himachal Pradesh has been the best governed state in the country. The law and order situation have also been under control,” he said, when asked about the BJP’s charge of lack of governance in the state, and also deterioration of law and order.

Story continues below this ad

“I regret that a crime like the Kothkhai rape and murder took place in the state. But I was the one who immediately wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking for a CBI probe. The BJP and some other people had tried to politicise the incident.

Now, look what has happened. The CBI has failed to make any headway and even those arrested on the basis of the police investigations were released on bail,” he said. Virbhadra said the CBI must tell the people why it has failed to make a break-through in the investigation. If at all a reward had to be announced, it should have been done much earlier . meanwhile, on Rahul Gandhi becoming the Congress President, Virbhadra Singh said the party would become stronger under his leadership.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram