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Exit polls predict BJP's win in Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and MP
For the BJP, victory in these 4 states, which account for 72 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats, would strengthen Modi’s bid to bring the saffron party back to power at the Centre after 10 years. Delhi keeps date with democracy, witnesses record turnout | Exit polls:C-fore | CNN IBN-The Week | C-voter | ABP News-Nielsen
Barely five months before the Lok Sabha elections, exit polls on Wednesday predicted a sweep for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi assembly elections.
Crucially, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is projected make a strong debut in Delhi, where the Congress may lose power after 15 years.
The early indicators are sure to enthuse the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee and Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi.
He was the Hindu nationalist party’s star campaigner in all four states and did not refrain from attacking the top Congress leadership, which, on the other hand, chose to ignore his barbs.
The state elections have been billed as the semi-final before the final battle in the general elections due by April-May 2014. They have also been projected as a popularity test for Modi.
For the BJP, victory in these four states, which account for 72 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats, would strengthen Modi’s bid to bring the saffron party back to power at the Centre after 10 years.
If the exit poll predictions come true, the BJP is headed for a hat-trick in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and will oust the Congress in Rajasthan.
Delhi is predicted to go to the BJP too, but the big splash will be the emergence of Kejriwal’s AAP, which according to five different exit polls is likely to get as many as 17 seats.
Delhi rises to the occasion with record 67% turnout
In Delhi, which witnessed record voting of around 67% on Wednesday, the BJP will win 34 of the 70 seats, with a 32% vote share, according to a C fore exit poll.
The party had won 23 seats in 2008.
An ABP-Nielsen survey gives 37 seats to the BJP in the Capital.
According to the surveys, it’s curtains for the ruling Congress, which will get between 16 (Nielsen) and 20 (C fore) seats — down from the 43 it won in 2008.
Some pollsters are split on the Delhi outcome. While some point to a hung House, others are giving the BJP a slender majority.
The Congress is chasing a fourth successive win in Delhi under CM Sheila Dikshit.
"It is good that people in great numbers participated in voting. But I cannot say about the results. I am not an astrologer to predict the result. Let us see what happens on December 8,” she said when asked about exit polls predicting a defeat for the Congress.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal will make a strong debut with 14 seats and 25% of the vote share, says the C fore survey. The Nielsen survey gives the AAP 15 seats.
Voters queued up through the day — and also night — to shatter the previous best of 61.75% registered in 1993, the first elections to the state assembly.
In an unprecedented exercise, voting went on till 9.30pm — four-and-a-half hours past the 5pm deadline — when the last ballot was cast by waiting voters in a booth in Okhla assembly segment.
"1.72 lakh voters were in queue by 5pm. So, we decided to allow all those who were in queue to vote even if it goes till late in the evening," an election commission official said.
“The election was incident free,” Delhi’s chief electoral officer Vijay Dev told a press conference. “The young have broken all stereotypes. They want to vote.”
Shivraj on track for hat-trick in Madhya Pradesh
In MP, surveys project CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan will score a hat-trick for the BJP.
The C fore exit poll gives the party 135 of the total 230 seats, with a vote share of 39%, while the Nielsen survey pegs it at 138.
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