Axis My India’s Pradeep Gupta to release exit poll results independently. ‘Shut shop and start…,’ say netizens

Pollster Pradeep Gupta will release his firm Axis My India's exit poll results for Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly elections independently. 

The exit poll results for the two states will start at 6.30 pm today – after voting in second phase of Jharkhand, and single phase in Maharashtra is over.

Gupta's firm had ended his long association with India Today during Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections results last month.

Axis My India exit poll results were, instead, streamed on the firm's YouTube channel and on Red Mike, the YouTube news channel headed by former NDTV journalist, Sanket Upadhyay.

Botched Indian Elections

Gupta's firm has botched many Indian elections forecasts in the recent past. The Axis My India exit polls, like most others, failed to predict correct results for Haryana, where BJP returned to power for the third time as against the predictions giving a victory for the Congress party.

Gupta and his team at Axis My America, however, claimed earlier this month that they have accurately predicted Donald Trump’s victory.

Axis My America’s forecast aligned closely with Donald Trump’s results in both the popular vote and the electoral college, Gupta said, adding Axis My America, a subsidiary of Axis My India, stood out for precisely capturing voter sentiment across key states.

Netizens Blast Gupta

Given the incorrect predictions in the past, netizens asked Gupta to shut shop and start something else, instead. “Kripya aap aapna Exit Poll waala dukan bandh kare aur doosra kuch karobar khole.(Please shut your exit poll business and start something else),” a user suggested on X.

Another user asked, ‘You didn’t get even a YouTube guy this time?"

Previous debacles

In 2024 Lok Sabha Elections,Pradeep Gupta's Axis My India predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might secure over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha. This aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan 'Abki Baar 400 Paar'.

Axis My India in the exit poll had projected that the BJP would capture between 322 and 340 seats, an increase from their 303 seats in 2019.

But the results appeared differently where the BJP fell short of a simple majority, and the National Democratic Alliance finished at 293 seats only.

What are Exit Polls?

Exit Polls are predictions are based on voter feedback collected by survey agencies after the polling. While the idea behind the exit polls is to reflect public sentiment well before the actual results are announced, their accuracy has faced scrutiny in the past.

The Election Commission of India prohibits conducting exit polls during the voting process, but they are allowed to be published 30 minutes after the last vote is cast. As per the rules, exit poll data cannot be released before 6:30 pm today, the polling date in Maharashtra and Jharkhand (Phase 2).