Race to Race Course Road

21/05/2019

Most exit polls forecasted another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting that BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha. Exit polls were, however, divided in their prediction for the politically most crucial State of Uttar Pradesh with some like ABP-Nielsen saying that the BJP’s tally may fall to 22 from 71 while a few others like New 18-Ipsos and News 24-Chanakya tipping its tally over 60 seats. The saffron party appeared to make major gains in eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha. Exit polls by News 18-Ipsos, India Today-Axis and News 24-Chanakya projected 336, 339-368 and 336-364 seats respectively for the NDA, with the BJP tipped to cross the majority on its own for another term after the 2014 polls. However, two exit polls one by ABP News-Nielsen and another by Neta-News X said the ruling alliance may fall short of a majority. ABP News forecast 267 and NewsX 242 seats for the ruling NDA. Elections to 542 seats of the 543-member Lok Sabha ended today. The Election Commission has deferred election for Vellore in Tamil Nadu over allegations of misuse of money power. The counting of votes is slated for May 23.
However, Top leaders of the BJP-led NDA will meet over dinner on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah expected to be present. Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Lok Janshakti Party head Ram Vilas Paswan are likely to attend the meeting, which will take place two days before the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on May 23. A meeting of key BJP leaders, including Union Ministers, is also scheduled to be held in the party headquarters before the dinner meeting with allies. The BJP’s decision to host the dinner comes following the exit polls which have been unanimous in projecting another term for Modi. Some of the polls put the NDA’s vote share at more than 40 per cent, with News18-Ipsos giving 49 per cent to the ruling alliance, which had garnered close to 39 per cent votes in 2014. The CVoter-Republic exit poll has forecasted 287 and 128 seats for the NDA and UPA respectively. ABP News-Nielsen and Neta-NewsX predicted 127 and 164 seats respectively for the UPA. The CNN News18-Ipsos projected only 46 seats for the Congress and 82 for its allies. In 2014, the NDA had won 336 seats and the Congress 44. The BJP had notched up its maiden majority by bagging 282 seats. Some exit polls predicted that the SP-BSP alliance is likely to trump the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP had won 71 and its ally Apna Dal two of its 80 seats in 2014. However, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee dismissed the exit polls as a “gossip” and a gameplan to “replace” EVMs. Exit polls in the country have had mixed record on accuracy. However, Congress ally and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, said every single exit poll cannot be wrong. “Time to switch off the TV, log out of social media & wait to see if the world is still spinning on its axis on the 23rd (May),” he tweeted. Some social media users pointed out that election results in Australia proved most psephologists and news polls wrong.

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