New Delhi: Buoyed by exit poll predictions, the BJP has started preparation to celebrate Lok Sabha election results on May 23 in a big way at the party headquarters here even as the Congress headquarters here wore a deserted look even though a handful of workers present there rejected the forecast that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would return to power.
Most exit polls Sunday forecast another term for Modi, with some of them projecting that BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.
Party workers at the BJP headquarters Monday were enthused and confident of the massive victory right from the beginning of the polls.
While several workers had been given offs on Monday because they had been slogging tirelessly during the seven-phase general election, preparations were in full swing for May 23, when the results will be announced, a BJP worker said.
The party workers were busy overseeing the preparations for the D-Day and said the exit polls had underlined what they were always confident about.
"Our entire focus had shifted to elections and the leaves of everyone were cancelled. We were working 24X7 during the election time and were confident that we will breach the 300 mark," said Jitendra Rawat of BJP's media cell.
Sameer Chhabra, a BJP worker from Punjab, who was in Delhi for some work, said he wanted to return to his hometown quickly as he wanted to celebrate with his people on May 23.
"Five generations of my family have been associated with the party. My great-grandfather was associated with Jan Sangh, while my aunts worked for the Rashtriya Sevika Samitim," Chhabra, who also owns a shop in Punjab's Mansa, said.
"My wife was from a family of traditional Congress voters and after our marriage, I sent her to a camp of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti and within 15 days she understood what the philosophy of Sangh and the BJP meant. Now she is a BJP supporter and even my in-laws have shifted their allegiance to the BJP," he said.
He said this time they worked a lot harder than in 2014 and had to convey information about Modi's achievements to the public.
"We used to convince traditional Congress voters by telling them that the grand old party was formed with an agenda to overthrow the British government, but now it is only a party of dynasty. But in the BJP, we do not know who will be the party chief after Amit Shah. Every worker here can become a Modi or Shah," he said.
Krishan Chand Bansal, 63, another BJP worker who came in contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of six, said it does not matter whether the party wins or loses.
"Our job is to work for the betterment of people and serve them. Now we have started working for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," he said.
The social media and IT cell of the BJP has had a major role to play in this election and a worker from the team, requesting anonymity said, they started preparation for the 2019 elections a year after they won the last Lok Sabha polls.
"Even the exit polls take data from us. We are on ShareChat and have one lakh posts there and in future, it might be the biggest social media platform. We knew that Facebook and Twitter will have a role to play during these polls, but they have reached a saturation level. This time, WhatsApp was the major game changer.
"We have formed about two lakh WhatsApp groups in the last six months across India with 256 members each. We used to disseminate information through these groups. Our campaign involved highlighting the achievements of the government, attacking the opposition, establishing an emotional connect with people," the worker said.
Congress workers put on brave face
The usual commotion at the Congress headquarters was missing Monday morning, which party workers said was due to a "false atmosphere" created by the exit polls.
"We would definitely perform better. And if we don't, then manipulation of EVMs might have been done," said Ram Singh, a Congress worker.
He was joined by other party colleagues who concurred that there will be a tough fight between the two parties and the Congress' tally would be much better than it was in 2014, when the party had won just 44 seats.
Charan Kumar, another Congress worker, watched on TV BJP leaders' reaction to the exit polls. "It has been done to create an atmosphere in favour of Modi," he inferred.
But another party worker, Surya Tripathi, gave it a different spin.
"The Sensex climbed 900 points in one minute on Monday. That is not a joke. It (exit poll predicting an NDA victory) was done to benefit traders, who invest in the stock market and who also form the biggest vote base of Modi," he said.
Congress worker Suresh Singh travelled well over 900 km, from Balia in Uttar Pradesh to the party headquarters in New Delhi. "On Thursday, I know there would be celebration here and the grand old party would emerge victorious," he said.
He questioned the credibility of exit polls, pointing out that they varied widely as far as projection for his state is concerned.
"For the NDA, some are predicting 22 seas in Uttar Pradesh while others are giving 52. Here lies the clue to the credibility of the exit polls and their chances of going wrong," said Singh.
For the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, exit polls were divided, with some like ABP-Nielsen saying that the BJP's tally may fall to 22 from 71 while a few others like New 18-Ipsos and News 24-Chanakya tipping its tally over 60 seats.
Congress worker Jagdish Sharma alleged that the exit polls are an "attempt by the BJP" to spread rumours and they might try to manipulate EVMs after creating a pro-BJP atmosphere.
"We will perform better and win. It would not be onesided as projected. We have seen the real atmosphere at the ground and no one is believing the exit polls, except for the BJP," Sharma said as workers surrounding him nodded in agreement.
Neeta Mishra, the General Secretary of the Vichar Vibhag at the Congress, said the exit polls might be a strategy of the BJP to create uncertainty and make mahagathbandan parties join hands with the NDA.
"We are not at all disappointed by the exit polls. We know many people are scared of the BJP and they lied out of fear that they would be voting for the BJP but they voted for others. The technicalities of sampling are not clear. Exit polls have gone wrong a number of times and they are biased. No one believes these polls. We are doubtful of the exit polls," she asserted.
Rishi Vallabh, another party worker who has been with Congress since 1997, called the exit polls a "work of paid media".
"It has been projected to boost the morale of the BJP. But reality would be different and would be visible on Thursday, May 23," Vallabh said.
Exit polls by News 18-Ipsos, India Today-Axis and News 24-Chanakya projected 336, 339-368 and 336-364 seats respectively for the NDA, with the BJP tipped to cross the majority on its own for another term after the 2014 polls.
However, two exit polls -- one by ABP News-Nielsen and another by Neta-News X -- said the ruling alliance may fall short of a majority. ABP News forecast 267 and NewsX 242 seats for the ruling NDA.
Elections to 542 seats of the 543-member Lok Sabha ended Sunday. The Election Commission has deferred election for Vellore in Tamil Nadu over allegations of abuse of money power.
The counting of votes is slated for May 23.
