BJP makes massive gains in Maharashtra and Haryana: Exit polls

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, October 15, 2014 | UPDATED 00:17 IST

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.The BJP is set to do well in the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, proving that the national seems to have beaten the local or the regional, according to exit poll projections. The India Today Group-Cicero exit poll said the BJP is expected to win 124 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra though short of a simple majority. Though this exit poll didn't include Haryana, other pollsters put the BJP winning 37-54 seats in the Haryana Assembly. Counting of votes will be held on October 19 for both states.
In Maharashtra, the projections are being keenly watched following the break-up of both the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and the Congress-NCP tie-up. If the BJP scores below the projections, it will be looking for post-poll allies by either forming new alliances or re-cementing broken ties.
The India Today Group-Cicero exit poll puts the BJP within some distance of forming a government on its own. The party, which won 46 seats in 2009, seems to have gained in vote share with a jump from 14 per cent in 2009 to 27 per cent projected this year. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena will be the second largest gainer in Maharashtra with 71 seats, a gain of 27 seats from 2009. The party is projected to win the confidence of 21 per cent of the voters. Video: BJP set to win 124 seats in Maharashtra
The 25-year-old alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena saw an acrimonious split last month after weeks of intense parleys over sharing of seats for the October 15 polls.
Haryana
The Times Now-CVoter poll said the BJP will win 37 seats, INLD 28, Congress 15, Haryana Janhit Congress 6 and others 4. ABP News-Nielsen gave 54 seats to the BJP, 22 to the INLD, 10 to the Congress, 2 to the HJC and 2 to others. The Today's Chanakya exit poll, however, gave a clear majority for the BJP in Haryana, giving it 52 of the 90 seats. INLD comes second with 23 seats, Congress 10 and others 5. In the outgoing Assembly, the Congress had 40 seats, the BJP had only 4, the INLD 31 and the HJC 6. Others had 9 seats.
Debacle redux for Congress
In Maharashtra, the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, which ruled the state for 15 years, are likely to face an anti-incumbency backlash with just 35 and 29 seats respectively. The Congress is likely to win 16 per cent of the votes while the NCP is projected to get 15 per cent. In 2009, the Congress won 82 while the NCP got 62 seats. Their alliance also broke within hours of the BJP-Shiv Sena split.
The Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana is facing a rout in reaction to several charges of corruption against it including giving a clean chit to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's questionable land deals in the state.
MNS out in the cold?
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was expected to be the fifth angle in the October 15 elections, the exit poll says the party is likely to bag just seven seats, down by six from 2009. The others are projected to win 22 seats. The exit poll conducted by Times Now-CVoter projected 129 seats for the BJP, Shiv Sena 56, Congress 43, NCP 36, MNS 12 and others 12. According to the ABP News-Nielsen exit poll, the BJP is set to win 144 seats, Shiv Sena 77, Congress 30, NCP 29 and MNS 3 and others 5. The exit poll by Today's Chanakya telecast on News24 gave BJP a clear majority with 151 seats while Shiv Sena got a projected 71.
'The survey suggests that the BJP is gaining the most in Marathwada, Konkan, Mumbai-Thane and western Maharashtra. The party is expected to register the least growth in Vidarbha. On the other hand, the Congress is losing ground across Maharashtra while the NCP too is losing ground, though not as much as the Congress, across the state except for Mumbai-Thane.
Surge

 

The BJP is projected to get 25 per cent of votes in Konkan and also in western Maharashtra. The party is also projected to get 24 per cent of votes in Mumbai-Thane.
The BJP enjoys the support of 25 per cent of Marathas, 33 per cent of other upper castes, 19 per cent of Muslims and 23 per cent of other Dalits. The Congress has the backing of 13 per cent of Marathas, 15 per cent of other upper castes, 31 per cent of Muslims and 16 per cent of other Dalits.
The Shiv Sena has the support of 28 per cent of Marathas, 21 per cent of other upper castes, 18 per cent of Muslims and 16 per cent of other Dalits.

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