Telangana: 'Exit polls predicting win, no surprise for TRS'

The prediction of a win for the TRS made by exit polls in the Assembly elections held Friday in Telangana did not come as a surprise for the party as it has been expecting it, TRS MP B Vinod Kumar said.

Caretaker Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao/. Photo: AFP

HYDERABAD: The prediction of a win for the TRS made by exit polls in the Assembly elections held Friday in Telangana did not come as a surprise for the party as it has been expecting it, TRS MP B Vinod Kumar said. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief spokesperson Sravan Dasoju, however, cited instances when the exit polls had gone wrong. The TRS has been confident about the win as the TRS government delivered on governance, Kumar said. "It will be a landslide victory this time. It's (prediction of win for TRS by exit polls) not a news for us. Because, we were expecting it right from day one, from 2014 itself. Because, we are performing. We thought that definitely we will once again win the elections," he told PTI. Though the opposition alliance-comprising Congress, TDP, the CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti- called itself the 'People's Front', people are not with the coalition, he said. "It's not a surprise for us. We are with the people. They are not with the people though they have named their front as 'People's Front'. They are without people. They are not with the people. We are with the people. So, people will definitely vote for us. That is our confidence right from day one," he said. Sravan Dasoju said exit polls had once predicted a win for the DMK in Tamil Nadu, but in reality it was J Jayalalithaa's party that came to power. "Jayalalithaa election is the classic example of how exit polls can be dubious. My hunch and all is, there is a strong pulse against the TRS and Congress is likely to come back to power is what I believe," he told PTI. The exit polls were almost unanimous in predicting that TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's gamble of advancing the assembly polls will pay off and he will retain power. Republic TV and Times Now forecast that his party would win 50-65 and 66 seats in the 119-member assembly. TV9 Telugu and India Today forecast a tally between 75-85 and 75-91 for the ruling party respectively. Some exit polls saw a tighter battle between the TRS and the Congress-TDP combine. The counting of votes would be taken up on December 11