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‘Should wait till December 8’: Jai Ram Thakur as exit polls project BJP to retain Himachal Pradesh
If the projections hold true on the results day, the saffron party would have reversed the trend of change of government from Congress to BJP and vice versa, as has happened in the past few assembly polls in the hill state.
Reacting to majority of exit polls projecting that the BJP would retain power in Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said people should still wait till December 8 (counting day).
Thakur, however, also said the BJP is likely to form the government comfortably.
Also Read: Himachal Pradesh Exit Polls 2022 predict BJP win in close contest with Congress | Key points
“Many of the exit polls are showing the BJP forming the government, while some show a neck-to-neck fight on a few seats. We should wait till December 8. According to our analysis, there's a complete possibility of the BJP comfortably forming the government,” said Thakur, according to news agency ANI.
Himachal Pradesh voted on November 12 to elect members of its 68-seat legislative assembly. On Monday, news channels came out with the results of their exit polls for election in the hill state. The seat projections are as follows:
Republic-P Marq: BJP (34-39 seats), Congress (28-33)
Times Now-ETG: BJP (38), Congress (28)
NewsX-Jan Ki Baat: BJP (32-40), Congress (27-34)
Zee News: BJP (35-40), Congress (20-25)
India TV-Matrize: BJP (35-40), Congress (26-31)
Only one exit poll projected that the grand old party would replace the saffron party, with India Today-My Axis India giving 30-40 seats to the former, and 24-34 to the latter. News 24-Today's Chanakya predicted a ‘tie’ between the two arch-rivals, giving 33 seats to each.
It is to be noted, however, that exit polls are only a projection of seats political parties are expected to win in an election. The actual result, on the other hand, may or may not be as per the projections.
The counting of votes is scheduled for December 8.
