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Some leaders hail exit polls; others say wait for the actual results
Most of the exit polls predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to retain power in India’s most populous and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to get its first full state to rule in Punjab.
A section of political leaders on Monday welcomed the exit polls’ predictions, asserting that it proved voters’ faith in their parties, while others termed the predictions premature and urged people to wait till March 10 -- the day when assembly election results will be declared.
Most of the exit polls predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to retain power in India’s most populous and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to get its first full state to rule in Punjab. The polls also said that the BJP would win Manipur, and threw up a mixed forecast for Uttarakhand and Goa.
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Welcoming the exit polls’ prediction for Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP was seen comfortably crossing the halfway mark of 202, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said: “The kind of help for the poor that was done by PM Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath has helped the state.”
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari, however, said, “Exit polls may show a contest (between parties), but on ground, we have not seen a contest...”
To be sure, exit polls are not always accurate and have often got verdict wrong in earlier elections.
In Punjab, two exit polls predicted AAP’s victory, while other surveys predicted a narrow majority for the AAP, or even a hung assembly.
The AAP’s Punjab co-incharge, Raghav Chadha, said the AAP has emerged as the most successful political start-up the country. “If these are the results on March 10, then it tells us that the Aam Aadmi Party is the fastest-growing political party in the history of independent India...,” he said.
State chief minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, however, urged people to wait till the results are out.
Also Read| Exit polls highlights: BJP likely to win UP, AAP to cross halfway mark in Punjab
In Uttarakhand, where the exit polls predicted a close fight between the incumbent BJP and the challenger Congress, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said: “We are confident that we will win over 60 seats in the state.”
Pritam Singh, leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly, asserted: “Whatever the projections of exit polls, you will see that Congress will form the government in the state,” he said.
In Goa, too, exit polls predicted both the BJP and the Congress in a neck-and-neck fight. “The BJP will get 18-22 seats in Goa and will form the government... As per exit polls also, BJP will return to power in UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur and will have good performance in Punjab,” Goa CM Pramod Sawant said.
(With agency inputs)
