Exit polls predict big gains for the BJP in Odisha, Bengal, South India
Some exit polls predicted that the BJP could face some attrition in Karnataka.
The exit polls released on Saturday after the seventh and final phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections ended predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance would improve on its 2019 figure. Some predicted that it could even cross the 400-seat mark out of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats, a feat achieved only once before by a party or a pre-poll alliance.
Some exit polls said the BJP was likely to defeat Odisha, become the leading party in West Bengal and make further inroads into the southern states, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala. However, states like Rajasthan, Bihar and Haryana could see marginal losses compared to 2019.
The leaders of the INDIA bloc parties met in the national capital in the afternoon. They said they did not trust the exit polls and claimed their alliance would win at least 295 seats. However, the exit polls were not good news for the Congress, with most predicting that it could make a marginal improvement over the 52 seats it won in 2019.
The election results could set alarm bells ringing for various regional players, the exit polls predicted. The Left parties in Kerala, Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal would suffer, the exit polls predicted.
According to Axis-My India exit poll projections, the BJP-led NDA could win as many as 401 seats. It said the NDA could win seats between 361 and 401 seats, while the BJP on its own could win between 322 and 340 seats, its best ever performance. The BJP won 282 and 303 seats in 2014 and 2019 respectively. The ABP-C Voter exit poll also painted a similar picture, putting the NDA’s likely tally at a formidable 353 to 383 seats. Today’s Chanakya said the NDA could win 400 seats.
According to Axis-My India, the BJP could win in West Bengal by improving the votes and seat share of the Trinamool Congress. It said the BJP could secure a vote share of 46 percent against the Trinamool’s 43 percent and win 26 to 31 seats, almost double the seats of Bengal’s ruling party, which it predicted would win 11 to 14 seats. could win.
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Another win for the BJP could be in Odisha, where the organization predicted that the BJP would win at least 20 of the 21 seats. Odisha also held its parliamentary elections. The pollsters predicted that the BJP’s gamble to align with the Telugu Desam Party and the Jana Sena Party could pay off in Andhra Pradesh, another state that has witnessed simultaneously held assembly elections, with the alliance securing a majority of appears to win the state’s 25 seats.
The Axis-My India poll predicted that the Congress could win 60 to 76 seats by maintaining its 2019 victories in Kerala and Punjab and winning some seats in Haryana and Rajasthan, while the INDIA bloc could win 131 to 166 seats to win. The BJP’s improved performance was attributed to the popularity of the Centre’s welfare schemes, especially free ration and continued support from the women.
Some exit polls predicted that the BJP could face some attrition in Karnataka, especially in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, but in southern Karnataka could benefit from joining the Janata Dal (secular). The BJP could improve its vote share from the three percent it managed in Tamil Nadu in 2019 to 14 percent. However, the rival DMK-led alliance would repeat its performance of five years ago.
According to Axis-My India, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor could lose to BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The BJP-led alliance is expected to increase its vote share in the state to 27 percent, which the Congress-led United Democratic Front is likely to win again, the exit poll predicted.
According to Axis-My India, the BJP in Maharashtra is likely to maintain its 23 wins as it has contested 28 seats, three more than in 2019. Still, its allies, the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena could suffering. It predicted that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena could perform creditably and win nine to 11 of the 21 seats it contested.
Similarly, in Bihar, another ally of the BJP, the Janata Dal (United), could prove to be the weak link in the alliance. The Rashtriya Janata Dal is expected to win six to seven seats in Bihar, up from none in 2019. In neighboring Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha could win a few seats due to its sympathy for former chief minister Hemant Soren over his incarceration.
The exit poll predicted a BJP sweep in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, saying the BJP-led NDA’s performance in Uttar Pradesh was likely to be closer to the 2014 result in the state than in 2019. claimed that it could win 64 to 67 seats in UP. In Punjab, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to perform poorly and is likely to win only the Sangrur seat, which Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had won in 2019. He left three years later after becoming the party’s chief minister. stands.
In Delhi, the exit poll said the BJP would retain its dominance, with only the Chandni Chowk seat likely to see a close contest.
First print: June 1, 2024 | 11:52 PM IST