Exit poll predictions for West Bengal on expected lines, says veteran Congress leader Salman Khurshid

New Delhi: The exit poll findings released on Thursday (April 29) don't look very exciting for the Congress, as except in Tamil Nadu, the Congress is unlikely to wrest power in any of the remaining four states/UT that went to the polls.

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that the exit poll projections for West Bengal are on the expected lines.  

Speaking to a news agency, Salman Khurshid said, "The BJP had carried out an expensive and high-decibel campaign in Bengal, using everything at its disposal, but the people there generally believe that despite the shortcomings, the government led by Mamata Banerjee has empowered them for some time."

"Mamata Banerjee would hold her ground -- this was the impression I got when I visited the state," he added.

West Bengal Exit Polls results (Total seats – 294):

The battle of Bengal seems to be much closer than other states. While, ABP News - C Voter predicts a win for Mamata Banerjee's TMC, Republic-CNX and India TV-Peoples Pulse show BJP having the edge.

Zee News Maha Exit Poll:

BJP - 144, TMC – 132, Congress+ – 15, Others – 1

Republic-CNX:

BJP - 138-148, TMC – 128-138, Congress+ – 11-21, Others – 1-3

ABP News – C Voter: 

BJP+ - 109-121, TMC – 152-164, Congress+ – 15-25, Others – 0

INDIA TV - Peoples Pulse:

BJP+ - 173-192, TMC – 64-88, Congress+ – 7-12, Others – 0

TV9 - Pollstrat:

BJP+ - 125-135, TMC – 142-152, Congress+ – 16-26, Others – 0

India Today - Axis My India:

BJP+ - 134-160, TMC – 130-156, Congress+ – 0-2, Others – 0-1

The exit poll shows that despite losing grounds, the Trinamool will still manage to win 158 seats, 10 more than the magic figure of 148.

The exit poll shows data for 292 seats in West Bengal, as elections in two seats were withheld after the deaths of the candidates.

The exit poll shows that the Left, which had ruled the state for more than three decades, is likely to be reduced to a marginal player, despite having a pre-poll alliance with Congress.

The alliance of Congress, Left and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif`s influential cleric Abbas Siddiqui is projected to win 19 seats, 59 less than what it had won in the last polls.

The exit polls projected a seat range of 152 to 164 for the ruling Trinamool, 109 to 121 for the BJP and 14 to 25 for Congress and its alliance partners.

The exit poll shows that the Trinamool is expected to secure 42.1 per cent votes. In 2016, the party had got 44.9 per cent votes, marking a dip of 2.8 per cent in its vote share in this year`s poll.

The vote share of the BJP, which has emerged as the main challenger to the ruling Trinamool, is expected to witness a huge jump of 29 per cent from 10.2 per cent in 2016 to 39.2 per cent in 2021.

The exit poll shows that the vote share of the Left-Congress combine is expected to see a huge decline of 22.6 per cent from 38.0 per cent in 2016 to 15.4 per cent in 2021.

(with inputs from IANS)