Shashi Tharoor said he is confident the Congress party will win more than 75 seats [1] in the Kerala Assembly elections.
The prediction comes as the state awaits official results, highlighting a tension between party confidence and the volatility of public opinion in one of India's most politically active regions.
Tharoor, a senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, based his outlook on feedback gathered from campaign trails across 59 constituencies [2]. He said the party is confident [3] in its performance across the state.
While addressing the electoral landscape, Tharoor questioned the accuracy of predictive data. "Exit polls in India have a certain limitation. We have a very complex society. These polls work much better in more homogeneous societies," Tharoor said [4].
This skepticism follows data from the Axis My India exit poll, which ranked Tharoor in 10th place [5] regarding the preferred choice for Chief Minister in Kerala. Despite this ranking, Tharoor said the diverse nature of the Indian electorate makes such projections difficult to trust.
Recent data from the polling process shows a voter turnout of 75.01% [6] as of 5 p.m. on the day of voting. This high participation rate underscores the stakes for the Congress party as it seeks a dominant position in the legislature.
Tharoor's emphasis on the failure of polls in heterogeneous societies suggests a strategy to manage expectations or dismiss unfavorable data before the official tally is released. He said the social complexities of the region often evade the methodologies used by polling agencies [4].
“"We are very confident"”
Tharoor's dismissal of exit polls reflects a broader tension in Indian politics where data-driven projections often clash with ground-level campaign feedback. By framing the society as too complex for standard polling, the Congress party is attempting to maintain morale and narrative control regardless of the Axis My India rankings or early projections.
