The Congress looks set for more losses as exit polls released on Monday for the five State assembly elections predict a rout for three-term Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Assam and a further jolt for the party in Kerala, where the LDF is expected to trounce Oommen Chandy.
In Tamil Nadu, the exit polls showed a keen contest with a clear edge to the DMK-Congress combine. In Puducherry, the same alliance is predicted to capture the 30-member assembly with a clear majority.
At least two pollsters, for India Today and News Nation, predicted that the DMK-front would touch the majority mark of 117.
The exit polls show that Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is headed for another victory in the 294-member West Bengal assembly.
Almost all the pollsters predicted a clear majority for the TMC with the India Today poll estimating a clean sweep of 233-253 seats for the party in the 294-member assembly. The majority mark is 147 seats.
BJP performance The BJP’s dry run in the Assembly polls was predicted to end with a spectacular victory in Assam. However, its hopes of making inroads in Kerala and Tamil Nadu look set to be dashed once again.
In Tamil Nadu, at least two pollsters predicted zero seats for the BJP. In Kerala, too, the prediction was not very enthusiastic although it may debut in the Assembly.
While exit polls are generally perceived to be the close to actual election results, they are not always accurate. In the Bihar assembly polls, for instance, at least two pollsters predicted a sweep for the BJP and its allies while the rest failed to catch the landslide victory that Nitish Kumar and his Grand Alliance finally scored.
Even in Delhi last February, most pollsters failed to gauge the wave in favour of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).