Bangalore: Brushing aside election surveys and exit polls that forecast a close fight in Karnataka Assembly polls, KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) president B Janardhan Poojary today (Apr 29, 2004) asserted it would be a "miracle" if Congress did not win 173 seats.

Asserting that the poll surveys and exit polls predictions would go haywire, Poojary told reporters in Bangalore, "It will be a miracle if we do not get 173 seats (out of 224). Getting that many (seats) is not a miracle".

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...
Political Parties in India

For the Lok Sabha elections also, he claimed that the Congress would win 26 of the 28 seats.

Poojary said his "field experience" during the 11,000-odd kms of travel for campaign, alleged failures of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government and the "good" performance of the S M Krishna Government were the basis for his confidence.

He maintained that there was no "Vajpayee" wave in the State.

Poojary also flayed the Election Commission for missing of voters' names from the electoral rolls, charging that the EC had "completely" failed in its duty. "It is an offence. A thorough inquiry should be conducted".

The Congress, he said, would "seriously" take up the issue in Parliament. "The EC cannot play like this. EC has completely failed", he said, adding, the party would write to the Commission on the issue.