Republic TV anchor Arnab Goswami questioned Axis My India Chairman Pradeep Gupta on Wednesday regarding the delay in releasing West Bengal exit-poll results [1].

The dispute highlights potential voter intimidation and the reliability of polling data in highly contested regions during the 2026 Assembly elections.

During the interview, Goswami questioned Gupta over why the agency had not published its findings for West Bengal after the initial phases of the elections [1, 2]. Gupta said the delay was due to a significant lack of cooperation from the electorate in the state. He said that 60% [1, 3] of Bengal voters were unwilling to reveal their preferences to pollsters.

Gupta contrasted this figure with the rest of the country, where the share of voters unwilling to share their choices is around 10% [3]. He said the situation in Bengal was one met with "fear and silence" [3].

Goswami said the legal window for withholding data had closed and the numbers should be made public [1]. Axis My India later said it would publish its projections shortly after 6:30 p.m. on April 29, 2026, following the close of the legally mandated window [2].

The tension between the anchor and the pollster centered on whether the high refusal rate rendered the data too unreliable to publish or if the delay was an unnecessary hurdle [1, 2].

"In Bengal, it is 60 per cent," Gupta said regarding the proportion of voters who refused to participate [3].

“"In Bengal, it is 60 per cent,"”

The stark contrast between a 10% refusal rate nationally and a 60% rate in West Bengal suggests a climate of voter apprehension that can compromise the statistical validity of exit polls. When a majority of respondents refuse to participate, pollsters face a 'non-response bias' that makes it difficult to project winners with confidence, potentially explaining why Axis My India hesitated to release the data despite legal permissions.