Gujarat will stand by Modi, Cong tally to rise: Exit polls
PREDICTION BJP to sweep Himachal, dislodge Virbhadra’s govt, say pollsters
NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to retain power in Gujarat and trounce the Congress i n Himachal Pradesh, exit polls said on Thursday.
Seven exit polls said the BJP will cross the majority mark in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. The saffron party has ruled the state for more than two decades but is battling an agrarian crisis and violent protests from its loyal Patidar votebank this time. One exit poll said the party will better its performance from the 2012 election.
Four exit polls predicted the BJP was headed for a crushing victory in Himachal Pradesh, where governments have traditionally changed every five years and where the Congress government was facing charges of corruption and poor law and order. Two others gave the saffron party a comfortable majority.
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh voted separately over the past two months with the former’s two-phase polls ending on Thursday to close a bitter campaign.
Results for both states will be announced on Monday.
Exit polls have gone wrong frequently in the past, especially in states with complex caste and community dynamics.
Pollsters got their seat predictions wrong in the assembly elections in Bihar and Delhi in 2015, and in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
If the exit poll results hold true on counting day, it will buoy Modi, who led the BJP from the front i n both states, and embolden him to continue with his economic reforms agenda. It will also be a setback to Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi, who assumes charge of his party on Saturday.
Victory in the two states will provide a shot in the arm for the BJP before assembly elections in a clutch of states — including Karnataka, the last big state ruled by the Congress — in the first half of the next year.
Moreover, it will put the BJP, along with its allies, in charge of 19 of India’s 29 states. The Congress will be left with just five.
Gujarat has 182 seats with the majority mark at 92. Himachal Pradesh has 68 seats with the majority mark at 35.
In 2012, the BJP won 115 seats in Gujarat and the Congress 61. In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress had won 36 seats and the BJP 26.