BJP loses some sheen

NDA may just make it: Exit polls.

Heat and violence marred the second phase of general elections as 55-60 per cent voters cast their votes in 136 constituencies spread over 11 states.

At the end of the day, television exit polls covering over 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha tonight predicted a hung House, projecting a depleted strength for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

The Congress, according to these polls, is the biggest gainer, up by nearly 25 seats on average from its strength in 1999. Based on the exit polls at the end of the two phases, Aaj Tak gave the NDA 266 seats, 36 less than in 1999, the Congress and its allies 175 and "Others" 102.

The Star News-C Voter analysis projected 267-279 seats for the NDA, 162-172 for the Congress and its allies and 97-109 for others, including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party.

However, the surveys on Sahara-DRS and Zee-Taleem for the first two phases, involving a total 276 constituencies, which went to polls today and on April 20, gave 152 and 125 seats, respectively, to the NDA.

While Sahara-DRS gave 104 seats to the Congress and its allies and 20 to others, the Zee poll predicted 89 for the Congress and 64 for others.

Elections 2004: Exit Polls
	NDA	Cong & allies	Others
AAJ TAK	144 -28 (51)	100 +31 (56)	32 -3 (29)
NDTV*	235-255	190-210	100-120
SAHARA	152 -22 (70)	104 +28 (49)	20 -6 (17)
STAR	155 -19 (75)	98 +22 (45)	24 -3 (17)
ZEE	125 (54)	89 (46)	64 (36)
Consolidated projections after the second phase of polling; figures in brackets are for the seats that went to the polls today. *Projections for total Lok Sabha seats

For the 276 seats where polling has already been held, the Aaj Tak survey gave the NDA 144, 28 less than the last elections, and 100 seats to the Congress, 31 more than earlier. It gave 32 to other parties, three less than the 1999 tally.

Star News also predicted a change of government in Telugu Desam-ruled Andhra Pradesh and Congress-ruled Karnataka, where Assembly polls were held simultaneously.

Star News predicted 68-80 for the NDA, 38-50 for the Congress and its allies and 12-24 for others, out of the 136 seats that went to the polls today. The Zee-Taleem survey showed the Congress getting 46, the NDA 54 and others 36 seats.