Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is projected to retain power in his home state Gujarat for a record-equaling seventh successive tenure and may just about manage to return to power in Himachal Pradesh for an unprecedented second term, according to exit polls telecast this evening.
The exit polls by TV news channels on legislative assembly polls in the two states predict a close fight in Himachal Pradesh with some projecting the BJP to retain power but one channel says the Congress will return to power there, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
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The vote-count in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will be taken up on December 8 and results announced the same day.
The exit polls project India's main opposition party Congress will finish a distant second in Gujarat. Meanwhile Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will finish third, predicted an aggregate of exit polls.
The exit polls gave BJP 131 of the total of 182 seats in Gujarat and the Congress and its allies 41. If the exit polls hold, the BJP will be equaling the record of seven successive terms of the Left parties in West Bengal from 1977 to 2011.
The tally of seat of the Congress, which had put up an impressive show in the last assembly elections in Gujarat, is likely to drop significantly this time.
In Himachal Pradesh, the exit polls predict 37 of the total of 68 seats for the BJP – barely past the majority mark – with the Congress close behind at 30 seats.
The exit polls predicted a flop show by AAP in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
However, there is good news for AAP which is likely to get majority of the 250 wards in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election whose results will be announced on December 7.
According to NDTV's poll of exit polls, AAP is likely to win 155 wards in Delhi. According to an exit poll by Aaj Tak-Axis My India, AAP will get 149-171 wards. The poll by Times Now-ETG shows Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's party winning between 146 and 156 wards.
Aaj Tak shows BJP getting 69-91 wards and Times Now exit poll shows BJP with 84-94 wards. News X-Jan Ki Baat exit poll gives the AAP 159-175 wards and the BJP 70-92. All the three channels' exit polls have the Congress getting 10 or less wards.
The BJP has been controlling the MCD for the past 15 years.
