EXIT POLLS GOT IT ALL WRONG YET AGAIN

Exit polls had predicted that the NDA would win between 130 and 167 seats. It ended up winning 202

- Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

In both the 2015 and 2020 Bihar Assembly elections a majority of the exit polls had either failed to gauge the magnitude of the wave in one direction correctly or the direction of the results correctly and this time too the pollsters failed miserably in reading the mood of the voters as reflected in the final result.

While at least 10 exit polls had projected a win for the National Democratic Alliance, led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, their numbers ended up way off the mark. These exit polls had predicted that the NDA would win between 130 and 167 seats in the 243-member House, voting for which was held in two phases on November 6 and 11.

But the magnitude of the NDA win was far more than the exit polls foresaw. The NDA ended up winning 202 seats whereas the Mahagathbandhan which was projected to win 70 to 100 seats had to rest content with a mere 35 seats.