 "Modi, Narendra Modi, exit polls")
Most exit poll results for Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Saturday predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to retain power and Narendra Modi is likely to remain India's Prime Minister for the third straight term.
According to pollsters, the ruling alliance will likely make inroads in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and sweep Karnataka. However, states like Bihar, Rajasthan, and Haryana may see a fall in the number of seats won compared to 2019.
Exit polls predict a three-peat -- third consecutive win -- for Narendra Modi, BJP and its allies.
A victory for Modi, 73, will make him only the second PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to win three consecutive terms.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: What do exit polls predict?
Two major pollsters predicted that the NDA might meet its agenda on "Ab ki baar, 400 paar". The News 24-Today's Chanakya said that the NDA may win 400 seats with a margin of error of 15 seats. According to the survey, India would win 107 seats and the other 36.
The India Today-Axis My India survey predicted that NDA may bag 361-401 seats. The INDIA bloc would, according to the pollster, win 131-166 seats and others would get 8-20 seats.
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The INDIA bloc was formed by opposition parties to challenge the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. It includes parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).
Other surveys predicted NDA would return to power but not touch the 400-mark.
The ABP-CVoter survey claimed that the NDA will win 353-383 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 152-182 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The News18 Mega Exit Poll predicted that NDA would claim 355-370 seats and 125-140 seats would go to INDIA. Others, according to the agency, would win 42-52 seats.
According to the Times Now-ETG poll, the NDA will win 358 seats, followed by 152 for India and 33 for others.
Among other pollsters, 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.
How did the parties perform in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA tally was 353. The Congress bagged 53 seats, and its allies 38.
If the Saturday exit polls are true, the tally in the 2024 elections would be similar to the results in 2019.
PM Modi exudes confidence ahead of counting day
On Saturday, after the final phase of polling concluded and exit poll results were declared, PM Modi took to social media platform X and said that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government. He also slammed the "opportunistic INDI Alliance".
In a series of posts, Modi said, "I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government."
"The opportunistic INDI Alliance failed to strike a chord with the voters. They are casteist, communal and corrupt," he added.
BJP president J P Nadda said that people have voted for a capable, powerful, developed, and self-reliant India and to put aside appeasement, nepotism, and corruption. He exuded confidence that his party will win more than 370 Lok Sabha seats and the NDA over 400.
Congress call exit polls 'orchestrated'
However, the Congress party rejected the exit poll results by saying that they were "orchestrated" by PM Modi.
In a post on social media platform X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The man whose exit is certain on June 4th has had these exit polls orchestrated. The INDIA Janbandhan will definitely get a minimum of 295 seats, which is a clear and decisive majority."
The party's social media head, Supriya Shrinate, told the news agency ANI, "This is a government exit poll, this is Narendra Modi's exit poll." Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats.
"We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders. This is a survey of people. People have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put it out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality," he said.
The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
