Exit polls predict BJP winning three northern States, leading in Delhi

BJP chief ministerial candidate Harshvardhan with family members after casting vote during the Delhi assembly election in East Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Exit polls conducted by polling agencies AC Nielsen, C-Voter, ORG-Marg, Today’s Chanakya and CSDS show the BJP winning three of the four northern States that went to the polls recently, and emerging as the single largest party in Delhi.

The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the Congress in Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram. Mizoram has not been polled by the agencies.

If the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has been in power for a decade, the Congress in Delhi has completed 15 years and in Rajasthan one term.

Poised for return

In Madhya Pradesh, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government appears poised to return for a third term, securing 141 seats in the 230-member Assembly, while the Congress will get 77, if one takes an average of the five polls.

In Chhattisgarh, the exit polls show the Raman Singh government securing a third consecutive victory in the 90-seat Assembly, with the BJP winning 50 seats.

The Congress tally has been put at 37. If the exit polls are right, they are virtually identical to the 2008 results.

In Rajasthan, the exit polls have predicted that the BJP will win 138 seats in the 200-strong House and that the Congress will bag just 44.

In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the BJP, the polls suggest, will get 33 seats, the Congress 19 and the Aam Aadmi Party 18.