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Showing posts from June, 2024

Why exit polls got it so wrong?

Results of India general elections 2024 have thrown a surprise no one saw coming. NDA has secured a majority but BJP on its own has failed to secure the majority, unlike last two general elections.                No exit poll predicted this scenario. As per exit polls, BJP was going to reach majority mark on its own and NDA was going to win about 350 seats. But BJP has won 240 seats and NDA has won 292 seats. The results seem to be beyond the confidence intervals projected for the prediction. What does that say about exit polls? There are multiple possible answers to this question. I will rule out conspiracy answers at the outset. I am not going ahead with argument that exit polls were staged to help some agents. One interesting possibility that I might want to consider is false answers from voters. Respondent’s response to exit poll enumerator can be a strategic choice if respondent thinks that revealing what she...