Assembly Election 2022 Exit Poll: Goa exit polls have predicted a tough fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress.
The BJP is set to retain power in Uttar Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party is in for a big surprise to form the government in Punjab, according to exit polls released on Monday after assembly elections in five states. Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur joined UP and Punjab in holding elections in the last two months. The BJP is fighting to retain four states, with the Congress trying to capture Punjab.
- According to Republic P-Marq exit polls for UP, the ruling BJP will win 240 seats out of 403 – more than half of the 202, though it is significantly less than the 312 it won in the 2017 election. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party will be the main opposition party with 140 seats.
- The Congress, for which Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior leaders including Rahul Gandhi campaigned fiercely, is set to disappoint again in UP, with only four seats expected. 17 seats will go to Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.
- Times Now-Veto also gives BJP victory in UP with 225 seats. Samajwadi Party is expected to get 151 seats. Congress is once again lagging behind with an expected return of nine seats. Mayawati’s BSP has been given 14 seats and other parties four.
- Meanwhile, in Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is set to deal a major blow and form the government, taking advantage of a tussle within the ruling Congress that ousted former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
- AAP is poised for a big victory from each of the four exit polls – India Today-Axis My India says it will win 76-90 out of 117 seats in the assembly and 51-61 says ABP News-CVoter. The biggest predicted win comes from News24-Today’s Chanakya, giving AAP 89-111 seats. Times Now-veto 70 and Republic P Marq gives 62-70.
- The Congress, which was expected to do well under Chief Minister Charanjit Channi, and the Akali Dal are at loggerheads for the tag of main opposition in the state. The BJP, joining hands with Amarinder Singh’s new party Punjab Lok Congress, will be at number three.
- With India Today-Axis My India, News24-Today’s Chanakya and Times Now-veto, BJP is set to retain power in Uttarakhand as well, all leading it to victory over Congress. India Today-Axis My India has given it 36-46 seats, News 24-Today’s Chanakya 43 and Times Now-veto 37 seats. However, ABP News-CVoter and Republic P-Marq are leaning on the other side, with the former giving the Congress 32-38 seats in the 70-member assembly and the latter 33-38.
- In Goa, both India Today-Axis My India and Republic P-Marq predicted a tight race between the ruling BJP and the Congress, with neither expected to win an outright majority. As per earlier, BJP will win 14-18 seats and Congress 15-20 seats. Republic says BJP and Congress will win 13-17 seats.
- Times Now-veto gives 14 to BJP and 16 to Congress. The majority mark in the 40-member assembly is 21, which means it will be a hung house.
- In Manipur, the Republic P-Marq exit poll gave an easy victory to the ruling BJP and its allies giving 27-31 seats out of 60. While it falls slightly short of a majority of 31, the opposition MPSA coalition is expected to win only 11–17 seats and the NPP 6–10 seats, giving the ruling party plenty of room to make post-election deals.