The BJP is set for a record sweep in Gujarat — the state it has been ruling since 1995 — three exit polls have predicted, beating all concerns about possible anti-incumbency and shrinking numbers of the party.
The Congress will finish second, and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party — which conducted a high-pitch campaign — will open account in the state, the exit polls predicted.
An aggregate of the three exit polls indicate that the BJP could win 131 seats — a little short of the 140-seat target set by the party’s chief strategist Amit Shah. The party won only 99 seats in 2018, its lowest score in nearly three decades.
The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine would win 41 seats and AAP, seven, shows NDTV’s Poll of Exit Polls, supporting speculation that that AAP’s entry could cut into Congress votes.
Exit polls, though, can often get it wrong.
If correct, this would be the BJP’s best showing in Gujarat, even beating the score of the 2002 election, held after the Sabarmati Express fire and the riots. That year, the BJP had won 127 seats, with a 48.5 per cent vote share.
The Republic TV-P MARQ has predicted the highest score — 128-148 — for the BJP. The Congress-NCP, it predicted will win between 30 and 42 seats — down from the 77 they won last time. AAP, it said, will get between 2 and 10 seats.
Data from News X- Jan Ki Baat shows 117-140 seats for the BJP, 34-51 for the Congress and 6-13 seats for AAP.
TV9 Gujarati predicts 125-130 seats for the BJP, 40-50 for the Congress and 3-5 seats for AAP.
Bucking the trend in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh, all exit polls have also predicted a victory for the party there. Himachal Pradesh traditionally votes out the incumbent.
In Delhi’s civic elections, held last week, the exit polls predicted a massive victory for the AAP after three consecutive terms by the BJP.
