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Oommen Chandy dismisses exit poll predictions

Special Correspondent

Alleges plot to forestall UDF win in the next phases of polling

KOCHI: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has pooh-poohed the exit poll predictions that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) would get a majority of the 59 seats for which elections were held in six districts on Saturday.

"I totally dismiss these predictions (as wrong)," he told a news conference at Kalady, near here, on Sunday. Referring to the predictions by a news channel, Mr. Chandy said he suspected that the exit poll was part of a conspiracy to forestall the United Democratic Front's (UDF) victory in the rest of the seats in the elections set for next week. "I suspect that this is a premeditated effort," he said.

He also said a report by the channel that the recheck of polling data in Puthuppally constituency, from where he is contesting, ordered by the Election Commission followed a complaint of booth-rigging lodged by him was totally false.

Mr. Chandy pointed out that the Election Commission had, on an all-India level, ordered recheck of data in all constituencies where the voting per cent was over 80. "Why should I complain of vote rigging," he asked.

Mr. Chandy said that the State election officials had themselves clarified that the recheck was on the instructions of the Election Commission at the national level.

Mr. Chandy claimed that the UDF was `fully confident' of a majority and that the UDF would get a majority in the rest of the seats too. He alleged that the LDF's `ugly strategy' to harvest communal votes had been exposed in the very first phase of the polling. The LDF had tried to appease the communal sentiments of the voters in all constituencies and had tailor-made its campaigning to suit each constituency's' conditions. It was now not talking politics, but focussing on communal issues to win votes. The CPI(M) would have to `pay a heavy price' for communalising the election, he warned.

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