■ ABP News-CSDS predicts that the BJP will win 164-176 seats, while the Congress-SP combine will win 156-169.
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In Punjab, pollsters are in agreement that the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine is out, with no pollster giving them more than nine seats, down from their current 68 seats.
What looked like a never-ending set of elections to the state assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will come to an end by Saturday when the results are announced.
The India Today-Axis exit polls has predicted a massive victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh where it has been projected to win between 251-279 seats. The India Today/Axis exit poll predicts the Congress will win between 62 and 71 seats and AAP wlil get between 42 and 51 seats. Uttar Pradesh outcome is seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity after his demonetization last November that rattled many feathers, both rich and poor.
The move was seen as politically risky, because most transactions in India are carried out in cash and millions of Indians were forced to join long queues outside banks to deposit their old bills or get hold of new ones. Hence, if we follow the trend on UP, it wouldn’t be an overestimation to expect that BJP might emerge as a single largest party. Any party needs at least 202 seats to prove its majority.
This is just an exit poll, and as with all exit polls, the figures could be wrong.
“Samajwadi Party is open to joining hands with arch-rival Mayawati if no party gets a majority”, he said.
Although exit polls predicted different results for the state, an average shows that Congress led by the chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is likely to win the state and stop the BJP surge in the state. The SP defeat can bring to fore Akhilesh’s many relatives and dwarf his own standing in the party.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, which has been embroiled in a family feud for months, had tied up with Rahul Gandhi’s Congress prior to the elections. CVoter predicts that Punjab has voted for change – a big change – with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opening its account in the state with a majority.
However, the projections draw somewhat worrying picture for the party in other four states. Neither is there proof of any specific survey organisation (s) getting their predictions consistently right vis-à-vis others.
Upper castes have always been favourable towards the Bhartiya Janata Party. The party placed its bet on the alliance of between non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits.
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Exit poll results Thursday were indecisive for Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous and politically crucial state. This is up from nil in the 2012 Punjab elections.
