If only they weren’t taken so seriously by TV news channels, election surveys and exit polls should be published on the comics pages, for the unbridled fun they offer—after the declaration of results.
Above is The Times of India‘s composite infographic of all the surveys done by various TV stations and polling agencies for the five states that had elections to their legislative assemblies.
Most pollsters got Bengal bang on, CNN-IBN gets Kerala right, Assam is kinda tricky for all, and Tamil Nadu is, well, impossible for all, only C-Voter comes close.
Below are the leads at 1 pm.
West Bengal: Trinamul Congress 215, Left front 72
Tamil Nadu: AIADMK 195, DMK 37
Kerala: UDF 72, LDF 65
Assam: Congress 81, AGP 10, Others 35
Little wonder, CNN-IBN’s resident number-cruncher Yogendra Yadav of CSDS began proceedings this year by grandly denouncing the fact that each election was seen as a test of pollsters.
Infographic: courtesy The Times of India
IJR 
Thank god exit polls have been banned between the various rounds of elections