'Showing trends at 8.05am or 8.10am on counting day is nonsense': What CEC Rajiv Kumar said on failed exit poll predictions

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday questioned the practice of showing winning/losing trends 5 to 10 minutes after the official beginning of counting at 8am on election result days.

"Showing winning/losing trends at 8.05am or 8.10am, which is just five or ten minutes after start of counting at 8am is nonsense," CEC Rajiv Kumar said when asked about the fallout of failed exit poll predictions. The CEC went on to question if these "early" trends are made to justify the exit poll results. "The actual counting starts at 8.30am and the first trends are uploaded on EC website at 9.30am," the CEC said.

"The exit polls lead to gap between expectations and actual achievement and this can have serious implications," CEC Rajiv Kumar said. He hoped for introspection and self-correction by the organisations involved in exit polls and stressed the need for self-regulation.