Several exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third consecutive term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a huge majority in the Lok Sabha polls.
The ruling alliance is most likely to open its account in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and sweep Karnataka, but could see a decline in states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana, according to these pollsters.
The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win as many as 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will win 154 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The Republic TV-Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the opposition.
The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362 to 392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141 to 161 to the opposition alliance. India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169.
Some other exit polls, including those by Axis My India and Today’s Chanakya, were yet to predict full results as of 8:40 pm.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA’s tally was 353. The Congress had won 53 seats and its allies 38. The “INDIA” bloc was formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
After the seventh and final phase of voting ended on Saturday, Modi exuded confidence that people had voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government and said the “opportunistic INDI Alliance” failed to strike a chord with voters who rejected his “regressive politics.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after a meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc that the alliance will win over 295 seats.
“We have arrived at this figure after talking to all our leaders. This is a survey among the people. The people have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their friends in the media also inflate the figures and the publish. Therefore, I want to tell you the reality,” he said.
BJP president JP Nadda, however, asserted that people have voted for a capable, powerful, developed and self-reliant India and to cast aside appeasement, nepotism and corruption, and expressed confidence that his party will win. more than 370 seats in the Lok Sabha and the NDA. more than 400.
The counting of votes will take place on June 4.