Exit polls give BJP pole position in UP

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that the Bharatiya Janata Party could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab. The exit polls predicted a hung assembly in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party would emerge as the single largest party.

Times Now-VMR poll forecast 190-210 seats for the BJP in the UP assembly, while India News-MRC gave it 185 and ABP-Lokniti CSDS 164-176 seats. If the BJP wins UP, it would be a return to power for the party in the politically significant and volatile state after 15 years.

The three polls projected 110-130, 120 and 156-169 seats respectively for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance and 57-74, 90 and 60-72 seats for the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the NDTV poll of polls, an average of several exit polls, the BJP was projected to win 179 seats, the SP-Congress 136 and the BSP 77 seats in the country’s largest state. However, the India Today-Axis My India and News24-Today’s Chanakya predicted landslide victory for the BJP with absolute majority.

Punjab which witnessed a triangular contest in the assembly polls, could be in for a neck and neck fight between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party while the ruling Shiromani akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party may face a drubbing, according to pollsters.