They could be swallowed.

Following my blog "Ayodhya Falls" on Wednesday, 5 June, " As the yawning gap between exit poll predictions and the actual election results led to huge losses in the stock market on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale has asked Sebi to investigate whether BJP and poll agencies made crores by manipulating the stock markets via pollsters." "In his letter to Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, he has also asked the regulator to investigate if there are entities that booked profits through selling on 3rd June and made even more profits on 4th June by short selling." ET. The elections took place in seven phases. from Friday, 19 April to Saturday, 1 June 2024. ECI. In the first phase, voting started at 7 AM and ended at 6 PM except in certain areas for security reasons. Mint. In the seventh phase on Saturday, 1 June voting hours were also between 7 AM and 6 PM. HT. Since the elections dragged on for 6 weeks all media channels would have had the exit poll figures tabulated and added up. All they had to do was to add the figures for the final day and release their predictions as soon as voting ended. But, exit polls were not released till much later and all predicted a sweep for the BJP-led NDA with over 350 seats. "The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win up to 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 154 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha." HT. As if they had been told. However, the BJP won 240 seats, well short of 272 required for absolute majority, and have to depend on support from Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which won 16 seats and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (U) party which got 12 seats. NDTV. "Amid speculation that Naidu and Nitish Kumar might be courted by the Opposition INDIA bloc, comprising parties that garnered 232 seats, the BJP has proactively secured written assurances of support from the TDP and JD leaders." BS. Apparently, Messrs Naidu and Nitish Kumar could demand key ministerial posts in return for their support. The Week. They must be careful because they will return to their respective states while their MPs will remain in Delhi as prey for the BJP. The BJP has an unsavory record of stealing votes from their alliance partners, weakening them in their states and then discarding them as scrap. "A look at the trajectory of regional entities like the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Shiv Sena, Naga People's Front (NPF), since the time they allied with the Modi-era BJP can help understand the strategy better. These regional parties once ruled their respective states - Assam, Maharashtra, Nagaland." The Wire. In Surat, Gujarat, other candidates mysteriously withdrew their nomination, leaving the BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed. In Indore, opposition candidates "were coerced and otherwise 'persuaded' to leave the fray". NOTA (None Of The Above) came second with 2,18,674 votes. The Wire. This was a humiliating insult to the BJP. But, they do not care they won dirty. Nor will the ones who made fortunes by gaming the markets. Those who are supporting need to beware. They could be swallowed.