There are several structural problems with the way exit polls are conducted in India – from inadequate sample sizes to the blending of irrelevant historical data into the projection, an improper understanding of the demographics, voters withholding their true choices from researchers and many more. Also, inadequate budgets mean pollsters cut corners.

It’s a flawed exercise and even harmful at times, as we saw with the stock market surge based at least partly on exit poll results and the subsequent crash on counting day.

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