Exit polls forecast clear majority for BJP in Maharashtra

New Delhi, October 21

The BJP appeared set to return to power with a bigger mandate in Maharashtra, where it is in alliance with the Shiv Sena, as exit polls forecast a facile victory for the party and rout for its rivals, including Congress.

Exit polls, broadcast soon after the polling ended, varied widely in their projection of seats for the rival alliances but an emphatic victory with more than two-third seats for the BJP-led NDA in Maharashtra and Haryana was the common theme.

The India Today-Axis exit poll projected 166-194 seats for the BJP-Shiv Sena in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly and 72-90 for the Congress-NCP alliance.

The exit poll by News18-IPSOS gave the BJP a near-majority on its own by predicting a whopping 142 seats for the party and 102 for its ally Shiv Sena. The Congress and NCP will bag 17 and 22 seats only, it has forecast.

The ABP-C Voter predicted 204 seats for the BJP-Shiv Sena and 69 for the Congress-NCP.

The poll of polls gave the saffron alliance 211 seats and 64 to the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra. —PTI