May 16, 2016
New Delhi: Exit polls released on Monday evening project a second term for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party creating history in Assam, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala sticking to their decades-old script of voting the incumbent out.
May 16, 2016
New Delhi: Exit polls released on Monday evening project a second term for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party creating history in Assam, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala sticking to their decades-old script of voting the incumbent out.
A word of caution here: these are exit polls, and while the handful of those that have been released so far agree (except in the case of Tamil Nadu where one expects the incumbent to return), it is within the realm of the possible that all have gotten things wrong. It has happened before.
In Tamil Nadu the exit polls signal an upset for the incumbent J Jayalalithaa led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with the alliance of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress winning. One poll, by C Voter, expects the AIADMK to return to power. However, of all the states, the contest appears to be the closest in Tamil Nadu according to the exit polls.
In Kerala, the Left-led LDF is projected to win.
Five exit polls released on Monday – ABP Neilsen, C Voter, Axis My India, Today’s Chanakya and ABP Ananda – all give the incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) over 160 seats in the 294 member assembly of West Bengal. Today’s Chanakya and Axis My India believe it could be as high as 210 and 233-253 seats respectively.
That’s bad news for the Congress-Left combine which was hoping, at worst, to make a significant dent in the TMC’s position and, at best, wrest power from it.
In Assam, the exit polls have predicted almost a landslide victory for BJP and its allies with Today’s Chanakya predicting 91, ABP Neilsen, 81 and Axis My India, 79-93 seats. That’s another defeat for the Congress, which currently governs the state.
Polling ended on Monday for the four states of Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as the union territory of Puducherry. The result for the elections will be announced on Thursday.
The elections are crucial to the Congress, which is in power in Kerala and Assam. The stakes are equally high for the Left Front. For the BJP, these elections are an opportunity to create history in Assam. No one expects the party to do well in any of the other states.
Courtesy: PTI
