New Delhi:
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is likely to get a third straight term in Bengal, though with a majority greatly shrunk, an aggregate of eight exit polls indicate. The challenger BJP’s goal — replacing Trinamool as the ruling party with 200 assembly seats — might have to wait, the numbers also indicate. The party is likely to emerge a close second to the Trinamool — a sea change from the paltry few seats it currently has in the assembly, showed NDTV’s poll of exit polls.
The Trinamool Congress, which surged to power in 2011 toppling the 34-year Left citadel, had improved its tally by 27 seats in 2016, winning 2011.
Numbers indicate that this time, its tally is likely to drop sharply, and the party may win only 152 of the state’s 294 seats — exactly the majority mark.
The BJP tally may shoot up to 130 from the current three seats. The Left Front, which did not make it to a double digit tally in the last election, may win 12 seats.
Statutory warning: Exit polls can often get it wrong.
Of the eight exit polls, the best performance by the Trinamool Congress has been predicted by News 24-Today’s Chanakya, which has predicted 180 seats for the party, 108 seats for the BJP and four seats for the Left.
ABP News-C voter has predicted 152-164 seats for the party. The BJP is likely to get 109 -121 seats. Even The Left, the poll predicted, is likely to do better with 14 to 25 seats.
A clean sweep by the BJP has been predicted by India News-Jan Ki Baat, where the party might win 162-185 seats.
The Republic TV-CNX predicts a possible hung assembly, with the BJP winning 138-148 seats. 148 seats will put the BJP just on the majority mark — a precarious situation where the Left is likely to get 11-21 seats and the Trinamool 128-138 seats.