The poll of three exit polls showed the Mahayuti alliance winning around 158 seats in Maharashtra, while it gave a slim edge to the BJP in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly…reports Asian Lite News
The Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP is likely to retain Maharashtra, as per predictions by three exit polls. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the BJP-led NDA will be in a close contest with the JMM-Congress alliance, predictions showed.
The poll of three exit polls showed the Mahayuti alliance winning around 158 seats, crossing the halfway mark comfortably in Maharashtra. In Jharkhand, the poll of exit polls gave a slim edge to the BJP, with the NDA predicted to secure 45 seats in 81-member Assembly.
As per Matrize forecast, Mahayuti could win anywhere between 150–170 seats. It has given 110–130 seats to the MVA, which comprises the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction.
Chanakya survey shows the Mahayuti alliance winning 152 to 160 seats, while Maha Vikas Aghadi could claim victory on 130 to 138 seats.
The Times Now-JVC exit poll showed a clear mandate for Mahayuti, with predictions showing the alliance winning 159 seats. The MVA alliance is likely to claim 116 seats, survey showed.
The poll of three exit polls showed Mahayuti winning 158 seats and MVA 123 seats in the Maharashtra elections. In Maharashtra, which has 288 assembly seats, the halfway mark is 145 seats.
The Matrize prediction gave the BJP-led NDA 42-47 seats in Jharkhand elections, securing a clear mandate. The halfway mark is 40. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress is likely to get 25 to 30 seats.
The Chanakya Strategies also predicted an edge for the BJP-led alliance. The survey gave NDA 45 to 50 seats, and the JMM-Congress alliance 35 to 38 seats.
Meanwhile, the Times Now-JVC exit poll showed a close contest, with the BJP-led alliance just crossing the halfway mark. The forecast showed NDA bagging anywhere near 40 to 44 seats. The JMM-Congress alliance is predicted to win 30 to 40 seats.
The poll of three exit polls showed the BJP alliance winning 45 seats and the JMM-Congress combine winning 33 seats in the Jharkhand elections.
Another pollster C-Voter, however, shared predictions for only 61 of the 80 seats; it forecast 34 seats for NDA and 26 for the INDIA bloc. Twenty seats were too close to call, the pollster contended.
Jharkhand voted in two phases on November 13 and November 20, while polling was held in a single phase in Maharashtra on November 20. The counting of votes for both Assembly elections will be held on November 23.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Jamshedpur East, Dr Ajoy Kumar also responded to the exit polls and said, “We have to wait till November 23. Different reports (Exit Polls) have come from different places. Exit Polls do show a trend but for the past few elections, it has been facing difficulties. We are awaiting the result day. But we are fully confident that JMM-Congress government will be formed in Jharkhand because parties and candidates also conduct their surveys.”
Another Congress candidate from Nagpur North, Dr Nitin Raut also reacted to the exit poll predictions and said, “Many a time in Exit Polls if someone has actually voted for Congress, they feel that why should they reveal that they voted for Congress. So, in the Exit Polls, they say that they have voted for the BJP.”
Advantage BJP in UP bypolls
Even as voting for the nine seats in Uttar Pradesh (UP) bypolls is over, the JVC and Matrize exit polls are pointing to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) win in nearly six-seven seats. The opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), meanwhile, is likely to clinch the remaining two-three seats.
The Congress has extended its support to the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP and is not contesting on any seats.
Matrize projections show the National Democratic Alliance winning seven seats, with SP ahead on two. Voting in bypolls to the Legislative Assembly seats in UP gained some momentum following a slow start on Wednesday, but the turnout across constituencies did not cross the 60-per cent mark. Ghaziabad logged only 33 per cent of voting.
In the 2022 Assembly polls, the state had recorded an overall turnout of 61.03 per cent. The voter turnout in Katehari (56.69 per cent), Khair (46.43 per cent), Kundarki (57.32 per cent), Karhal (53.92 per cent), Majhawan (50.41 per cent), Meerapur (57.02 per cent), Phulpur (43.43 per cent) and Sisamau (49.03 per cent) were all below 60 per cent, according to the Election Commission’s data at 5 pm.
Across the 15 Assembly seats that have gone to polls in UP, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttarakhand, the voter turnout figures have only crossed the halfway mark on average.
The voting was also marred by accusations of alleged irregularities by police officials and misuse of the government machinery.
For not following the guidelines of the EC, five police personnel were suspended, with many others being taken off poll duty in UP, officials said. The allegations include “stopping electors from casting votes” in the Assembly bypolls, officials said.
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