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Friday, Feb 04, 2005

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Advantage Congress in Haryana: exit polls

NEW DELHI, FEB. 3. The Congress appears set to form the next government in Haryana, while in Bihar, the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal seems to have incurred heavy losses in the first phase of polling today, according to exit polls conducted by two television channels. In Jharkhand, it looks like a neck-and-neck race between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

The Congress is projected to win 60 of the 90 seats in Haryana, while the ruling Indian National Lok Dal of the Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, faces a rout, barely managing to win 11, according to the Zee News-C Voter exit poll. The poll gives the BJP nine seats and 10 to others in the State.

According to the AC Nielsen exit poll for Star News, the Congress is expected to win 55 seats, with the ruling INLD getting 15 and the BJP 11. All the 90 seats in Haryana went to the polls today.

In Bihar, the ruling RJD seems to be in a patch of trouble. According to the Zee News exit poll, it is expected to win only 17 of the 64 seats where polling was held in the first phase, a loss of 16 seats compared to its tally in the previous election. The poll gives the BJP-Janata Dal (United) combine 20 seats, with the Congress getting 16, a gain of 15 seats over the last time. Others are expected to get 10 seats.

Close fight in Bihar

In Bihar, according to the Star News exit poll, it is a close fight between the RJD and the BJP-JD(U) combine in the first phase. While the RJD is expected to win 28 of the 64 seats, the BJP-JD(U) appears set to win 21, Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party 6 and the Congress none.

Neck and neck in Jharkhand

In Jharkhand, the Congress and its allies and the BJP are projected to win nine seats each out of the 24 that went to the polls today. The RJD and others are expected to get four and two seats respectively. However, the Star News puts the BJP ahead of the Congress, giving it 14 of the 24 seats, while the Congress-JMM is expected to get 6 and the RJD 4.

An exit poll by Aaj Tak also indicates that the Congress is likely to get an "absolute majority" in Haryana.

In Bihar, the RJD is likely to lose some ground but win 26 of the 64 seats which went to the polls today, losing as many as seven won in the 2000 elections. In this phase, the BJP-JD(U) combine is likely to emerge second with 21 seats and the LJP set to improve its vote percentage by over 12 per cent, it said.

In Jharkhand, the BJP-JD(U) combine is set to hold its ground, winning 11 of the 24 seats, with the RJD and the Congress-JMM combine winning 4 seats each.

Making early seat projections, the Aaj Tak exit poll says that the RJD is set to win 93 seats in Bihar, closely followed by the BJP-JD(U) combine with 84. The LJP is estimated to win 28 and the Congress 18, the poll said. In Jharkhand, the projections show Congress winning 40 seats, the BJP 30, the RJD 6 and others 5. — PTI

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