New Delhi: With the elections across five states finally coming to an end on Monday, flurry of exit polls were declared today evening, with most surveys giving an edge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam and predicting an outright win for Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal. Polling was held for the Assemblies of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry today.
Here's how leaders across the political parties react – Read
Brushing aside the early exit polls predictions of a big win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi expressed confidence over his victory, saying people are aware of the work done by the Congress Government in the state.
"I have a full trust and confidence in our own people of Assam. People of Assam have seen how much change we have brought in.Everyone has seen the performance of the government," said Gogoi.
"The BJP took u turn to all the promises which they made to Assam. The way BJP saffronizes education as well; it is dangerous for the country," he added.
Quoting various exit poll results, senior BJP leader and national general secretary of the party Ram Madhav took to Twitter to state why today he and his party have a reason to smile.
“Exit polls about Assam are giving us a reason to smile. Hope they turn out correct on d 19th,” he tweeted.
Exit polls about Assam are giving us a reason to smile. Hope they turn out correct on d 19th
— Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) May 16, 2016
In another tweet he wrote: “Irrespective of exactly how many seats wud BJP win finally on 19th, one common thread n all exit polls is dat it would b a BJP govt in Assam.”
Irrespective of exactly how many seats wud BJP win finally on 19th, one common thread n all exit polls is dat it would b a BJP govt in Assam
— Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) May 16, 2016
TMC spokesperson and the party's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien also was not behind to show his joy shortly after the exit poll results were declared by various news channels today.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury however showcased his refusal to accept the results and said all the results will be proved wrong.
“Exit polls never turned out to be true as we've seen in Delhi and Bihar. We should wait for final result,” ANI quoted Yechury as saying.
"Congress will come up with a graphic "these many ways of scams"," Union Minister Giriraj Singh tweeted.
Congress will come up with a graphic "these many ways of scams "
BJP is #TransformingIndia #NaMoKe2SaalBemisaal pic.twitter.com/6Ur0PyPbSX
— Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) May 16, 2016
Meanwhile, Congress also dismissed an exit poll showing the party-led United Democratic Front losing power in Kerala to its rival, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front.
Senior Congress legislator Benny Behanan, who did not get a party ticket this time, told media persons that the results that have come out in the exit polls are not true.
"I represent a seat in Ernakulam and I know this district very well and this survey says the UDF will win just three seats... this is just not right. Something has gone wrong with those who did this," he said.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader O Rajagopal, who is a contestant from the Thiruvananthapuram district, said even though the exit polls predicts three seats for his party, they are expecting more.
"So let's wait for the result to come out on May 19," he said.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Lok Sabha member MP Rajesh however said he did not find the results as a surprise as this was what they expected.
Here's a quick check over 2016 Assembly poll results exit poll results:
The predictions for West Bengal are as follows:
ABP exit poll - BJP 1, TMC 178, Left 110, Others 5
Axis -My India exit poll - BJP 2-6, TMC 233-253, Left 38-51, Others 2-5
India TV- C Voter exit poll - BJP 2-6, Left + 71-79, TMC 163-171, Others 1-5
The predictions for Assam are as follows:
The BJP-led alliance is set to take power in Assam, ending 15 years of Congress rule, by bagging 79 to 93 seats in the 126-member assembly, three exit polls predicted.
A fourth survey gave the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies 57 seats -- close to the critical half-way mark.
The India Today-Axis exit poll gave 79-93 seats to the BJP combine, 26-33 to the Congress and 6-10 to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).
ABP-Nielsen predicted 81 seats to the BJP coalition, 33 to the Congress and 10 to the AIUDF.
The NewsX Chanakya poll gave 90 seats to the BJP combine, 27 to the Congress and nine to the AIUDF.
According to the Time Now C-Voter exit poll, the BJP and allies would get 57 seats, the Congress 41, AIUDF 18 and others 10.
In the last elections in Assam, the Congress won 78 seats, the AIUDF 18 and the BJP five seats.
The exit polls were divided over Tamil Nadu:
Two surveys predicted a defeat for Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. But a third said she would retain power comfortably, winning 139 of the 234 seats.
The News Nation TV exit poll gave 95-99 seats to the AIADMK and 114-118 to the DMK-Congress alliance. The People Welfare Front (PWF), made up of six parties, could get 14 seats and the BJP four seats. Nine seats could go to others.
The Axis-My India exit poll predicted 124-140 seats to the DMK-Congress alliance, 89-110 to the AIADMK, 0-3 to the BJP and 4-8 to others. C-Voter, however, gave 139 seats to the AIADMK and 78 to the DMK coalition.
In Kerala the Left could return to power:
The India Today-Axis exit poll gave 88 to 101 seats to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the 140-member house and 38-48 to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The BJP could get zero to three seats while one to four seats may go to others.
The India TV C-Voter exit poll predicted 74-82 seats to the LDF, which is led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
Exit polls predicted a win for the DMK-Congress alliance in Puducherry too, ousting the ruling All India NR Congress.
