Yogi Adityanath likely to win for second time due to landslide in Uttar Pradesh
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to retain power in Uttar Pradesh – one of the most politically important states – while the Aam Aadmi Party will scoop Punjab, as predicted by the exit polls Because the curtain was lifted from voting for the state. Election today. Five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur – voted in phases over almost a month to elect legislators to state legislatures.
Five exit polls have shown that the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP is likely to win a landslide victory for the second time in the state. The sum of the exit polls of India Today-Axis My India, C-Voter, Today’s Chanakya, Jaan Ki Baat and Veto points to 260 seats for the BJP and its allies. The contest was for 403 seats – the majority figure was 202. Samajwadi Party is projected to come second with 126 seats. Congress’s massive push for women’s empowerment, excited by its sloganladki hoon lad sakti hoon (I am a woman and I can fight)”, failed to give the party the boost it had hoped for. It is projected to win four seats.
Exit polls have predicted a neck-and-neck battle in the coastal state of Goa, where the BJP and Congress are predicted to win 17 seats each by India Today-Axis My India, C-Voter and Jan Ki. Talk. With 40 assembly seats and 21 majority marks in the state, smaller regional parties will most likely play the role of kingmaker. C-Voter is the only voter who has counted seats for Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and predicted just seven seats for it – far less than what it was expected to achieve. However, it can play the role of the leading powerbroker in the state.
Also read: | BJP’s victory in UP, AAP’s big victory in Punjab: India Today-Axis My India exit poll
However, the Congress may still win Goa if the state does not see a repeat of 2017 when, despite winning the most number of seats in Goa, the Congress failed to form the government due to the massive defection of the BJP.
Punjab, which saw raging infighting within the Congress and a change in chief minister in the months following the elections, could see Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP win its first in the state. This is the second time that AAP contested the state elections in Punjab. According to the exit poll survey, AAP is set to win 76 out of 117 seats; The majority mark is 59. The second spot is likely to go to the Congress, which had suffered heavy losses just before the election cycle, leaving the old party to form its own with party veteran and current Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh – Punjab Lok Congress. To make matters worse for the Congress, which is projected to win 21 seats, Amarinder Singh entered into a pre-poll alliance with the BJP in the state.
Also read: | Yogi BA in UP, 288 more votes counted: Axis My India exit poll predicts BJP’s big win
The BJP is likely to win only four seats, while its former ally Shiromani Akali Dal is likely to get 14 seats. The BJP-SAD alliance suffered a major setback when Akali, one of the oldest members of the NDA, pulled out of the alliance over controversial agricultural laws.
Five voters have predicted the BJP’s victory in Uttarakhand, with 37 of the 70 seats going to the ruling party. The Congress is not far behind even in a state that has shown signs of anti-incumbency and is likely to win 29 seats. In 2017, the BJP had managed to garner 46.51 per cent of the total voter turnout in the state, while the Congress had secured 33.49 per cent. Axis My India also found that 34 per cent voters in Uttarakhand preferred BJP’s Pushkar Singh Dhami as the next chief minister. Meanwhile, former Congress chief minister Harish Rawat was the preferred choice of 31 per cent voters.
In Manipur, the ruling BJP is poised for a big win, emerging as the single largest party in the state, winning 29 of the 70 seats. The majority mark is 31. The Congress is likely to get 10 seats, an average of three pollsters – India Today-Axis My India, C-Voter and Jaan Ki Baat – show.
Counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Actual results may differ from exit polls estimates.
Also read: | Uttar Pradesh Exit Poll: SP benefits from BSP’s defeat, but BJP gets huge majority