The Congress could stage a comeback in the southern state of Telangana, possibly ruining incumbent chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)'s ambitions of a third straight term in office, exit poll projections by India Today-Axis My India showed on Friday.
The India Today-Axis My India in its exit poll has predicted that KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) might be reduced to 34-44 seats against the Congress set to achieve the majority mark by bagging 63-73 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party might improve its 2018 tally and bag 4-8 seats while Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is set to bag 5-8 seats.
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Talking about vote shares, the exit poll projections show Congress getting a 42 per cent vote share against the ruling BRS getting 33 per cent. The saffron party could get 14 per cent votes while the AIMIM could end up with a vote share of eight per cent.
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What other exit polls suggested?
Multiple exit poll projections had showed the Congress ending KCR's reign in India's youngest state. However, India TV-CNX exit polls had predicted BRS to return to power with 70 seats.
Here are what the other exit poll projections had predicted for Telangana.
{{/usCountry}}Here are what the other exit poll projections had predicted for Telangana.
{{/usCountry}}Republic-MATRIZE results
Congress - 58-68 seats
BRS - 46-56 seats
BJP - 4-9 seats
AIMIM - 5-7 seats
India TV-CNX results
BRS - 70 seats
Congress - 34 seats
BJP - 7 seats
AIMIM - 7 seats
Jan Ki Baat results
Congress - 48-64 seats
BRS - 40-55 seats
BJP- 7-13 seats
AIMIM - 4-7 seats
Today's Chanakya results
Congress - 71 +-9 seats
BRS - 33 +-9 seats
BJP - 7 +-5 seats
Others - 8 +-3 seats
Telangana went to polls on Thursday, with around 23 million people casting their votes across 119 constituencies in the state. The southern state recorded a poll percentage of 70.60% by 11 pm. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.
In the 2018 elections, the BRS (then TRS) had swept the polls by winning 88 of 119 seats. The Congress had won 19 while the AIMIM had retained seven. The BJP had won just one seat.