New Delhi, April 29 -- Exit polls are projections, not predictions. The 2021 West Bengal election proved that more decisively than almost any state election in recent Indian history.

Every major polling agency underestimated Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress by a significant margin. Most overestimated the BJP. The gap between projection and reality was, in several cases, enormous.

Nine agencies released exit poll projections for 292 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly. That year, the remaining 2 seats had their elections on 30 September.

Most gave TMC a clear lead, but none came close to the actual result. Times Now-C Voter projected 158 seats for TMC and 115 for BJP.

ABP-C Voter gave TMC 152-164 seats and BJP 109-121. ETG...