New Delhi: Reacting to exit poll predictions for Himachal Pradesh, outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said though many poll pundits have predicted a close contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress, people should know the final result on December 8. Must wait Exit polls are showing BJP forming the government again in Himachal, while some are predicting close contest in some other areas. We should wait till December 8 for the final result. As per our analysis, there is a very good chance of BJP forming the government with sufficient majority, Thakur said.
Zee News-BARCA exit poll results showed that BJP has a chance of winning 35-40 seats in Himachal Pradesh, while Congress may win 20-25 seats and Aam Aadmi Party may win 0-3 seats. Other parties are likely to get 1-5 seats. The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly has 68 seats. In terms of vote share, BJP (47%), Congress (41%), AAP (2%), and others (10%) are likely.
Himachal CM Jairam Thakur was supported by about 35% of voters as the top chief ministerial candidate. If these numbers hold good, it will be the first time in decades that a sitting government will not be voted out after five years of service during an assembly election.
Many political analysts believe that Himachal could be a low-hanging fruit for the Congress due to strong anti-incumbency sentiments. But in a repeat of what happened in the 2022 assembly elections in Uttarakhand, where the Congress failed to wrest the state from the BJP despite the immense popularity of Congress leader Harish Rawat, Himachal Pradesh could prove to be so near, yet so distant. . Congress.
For the time being, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) mounted a spirited challenge in the state and established itself as a real alternative to both the BJP and the Congress. But it turned all its attention towards Gujarat. And exit polls show the same effect. AAP is projected to win no seats and get barely 2.1 per cent vote share in Himachal.
BJP’s vote share is expected to decline from 48.8 per cent in 2017 to 46 per cent now. Even the Congress is projected to lose some vote share, falling from 41.7 per cent in 2017 to 41 per cent this year.
If the exit poll numbers hold good, which will be confirmed after the election results are declared on December 8, the results will deal another blow to the Congress which has been unable to win an assembly election after 2019.
Most exit polls predicted a clean sweep for the BJP in Gujarat on Monday, while the battle for the saffron camp in Himachal is predicted to be tough. Some exit polls have even said that the BJP is heading towards a resounding victory in Gujarat and may also create a record in terms of seats. He also predicted that the AAP would open its account in the Gujarat Assembly, finishing third after the BJP and the Congress.
(with agency inputs)