BJP win in UP defies pollsters

NEW DELHI: Pollsters failed to predict a triple century for the BJP at the hustings in UP even as they did forecast an edge for the saffron party in the politically crucial state.

Most psephologists in these polls had projected 160-210 seats for BJP in the state, which sends 403 lawmakers to the Assembly. But the party by winning 311 seats surprised many, including some of the BJP leaders.

The exit polls for Punjab also went haywire with the Congress getting almost a two-thirds majority in the 117 seats House. The exit polls had forecast a close fight between the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In the case of Uttarakhand, the results of most of the exit polls came on expected lines with the BJP scoring half century, winning 57 of the total 70 assembly seats in the mountain state.

The projections for the western state of Goa also went completely off the mark as the Congress emerged as the single largest party against pollsters’ forecast of BJP winning the maximum number of seats in the state.

In the final results, Congress secured 17 seats as against 13 of the BJP in the 40-seat house.

Manipur exit poll was a mixed bag with one poll agency giving the BJP lead over the Congress. However, at the end, it proved to be the other way round.

The Congress won 28 seats in the northeastern state followed by BJP with about 21 seats.

On March 9, Times NOW-VMR poll had projected 190-210 seats for the BJP in the UP assembly, while India NewsMRC gave it 185 and Abp-lokniti CSDS 164-176 seats.

The three polls projected 110-130, 120 and 156-169 seats respectively for the Samajwadi Party-congress alliance and 57-74, 90 and 60-72 seats for the Mayawati-led BSP.

India Today-axis exit poll predicted 62-71 seats for the Congress in 117-member Punjab assembly, a comfortable majority, and 42-51 to Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. The Shiromani Akali DAL-BJP combine was projected to be decimated in the state which it has ruled for a decade.