The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks all set to get a majority in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly, elections for which were conducted in two phases on December 9 and 14, show exit polls. The party is also expected to wrest power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, where Assembly election was held late last month.
While Today’s Chanakya gave a maximum of 135 seats to the BJP in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the lowest of 99-113 was given by India Today-Axis exit poll in the state which has been ruled by the party for the past 22 years. As for Congress, they predicted 47 seats and 68-82 seats, respectively.
The Times Now and India-TV VMR have given the BJP 113 of the 182 seats in Gujarat – comfortably ahead of the majority mark of 92 seats – while the Congress is seen bagging 66 seats and others three. According to the ABP-CSDS Lokniti exit poll, the BJP is expected to get 117 seats, and the Congress 64 seats.
The CNN-News18 exit poll by well-known psephologist Surjit Bhalla predicts the BJP to get way ahead of the majority mark, with 125 seats in Gujarat, and the Congress to be limited to only 57. The predictions by Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV suggest the BJP, which has been in power in Gujarat for over, would get 108 seats, while the Congress would bag 74.
As per the NewsX exit polls, the BJP is expected to win 110-120 seats while Congress will get 60-65 seats.
BJP headed for clean sweep in Himachal Pradesh
Another state that went to the polls recently, Himachal Pradesh, seems to be set for another big BJP win, if the exit polls are anything to go by. An aggregate of six exit polls by the media houses, including Zee News-Axis, Aaj Tak, News Nation, News X, Samay CNX and Times Now-VMR shows the BJP winning elections in Himachal Pradesh.
In the 68-seat Assembly, the BJP is seen getting 41 seats and the ruling Congress getting reduced to 25, according to the ToI Online-CVoter exit poll. Most say the BJP will win over 49 of the 68 assembly seats up for grabs in the hill state.
The India Today-Axis exit poll gives an even bigger majority to the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, with 47-55 seats, and the Congress is seen limited to 13-20 seats. The Sahara Samay-CNX prediction is similar, with 42-52 seats for the BJP and 18-24 for the Congress.
Polling for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections in 93 constituencies ended on Thursday with a 68.4 voter turnout percentage. The first phase of the polls was held on December 9 for 89 assembly seats.
Exit polls are usually seen as an indicator of the polling trends.
The Gujarat election is seen as a "prestige battle" for Prime Minister Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats while the Congress bagged 61. The votes will be counted on December 18.