Exit polls predict hat-trick for PM Modi
NEW DELHI: After a high octane Lok Sabha election came to a close with the polling for the seventh and the final phase ending on Saturday evening, several exit polls predicted a landslide victory for the ruling BJP-led NDA combine as it could cross 350 seats and retain power at the Centre for third time in a row.
With all eyes remaining on the exit polls, an average of the exit poll results of four pollsters indicated that the BJP-led NDA is likely to win 365 seats and the INDIA bloc around 142 seats. Other parties or independents are likely to get around 36 seats. However, it is to be pointed out that the exit poll results have often been way off the mark and inaccurate. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
Exit polls have predicted hat-trick for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gains for the NDA in Odisha, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Exit poll results indicate that there has hardly been any erosion in the number of seats for the BJP as compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha election results. The saffron party has managed to come out with minor dents here and there, exit polls indicate while reaffirming the strength of “Brand Modi”.
Exit polls also predict impressive gains for the BJP in Southern states as it is likely to win two seats each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Karnataka, BJP is projected to win 20 to 24 seats while the Congress 3 to 5 seats. In Maharashtra with 48 seats, exit polls predict an edge for the INDIA alliance.
PM Modi said after the exit polls that the people of India have voted in record numbers to reelect the NDA government. “Opportunistic INDI Alliance failed to strike a chord with voters,’’ said PM Modi in a post on X.
The ruling alliance may see a fall in its tally in states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana, according to the pollsters.
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. The Republic TV-Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the opposition.
The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the opposition alliance. The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169.
In the 2019 polls, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA tally was 353. The Congress had bagged 53 seats and its allies 38. The ‘INDIA’ bloc was formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP president J P Nadda, however, asserted that people have voted for a capable, powerful, developed and self-reliant India and to put aside appeasement, nepotism and corruption, exuding confidence that his party will win more than 370 Lok Sabha seats and the NDA over 400.
An INDIA bloc leader was not inclined to believe the exit poll predictions, saying the real numbers on June 4 may present a different picture.
