Gujarat exit poll: Journalists predict BJP govt in state, Congress to improve tally

NEW DELHI: Journalists intensively covering Gujarat Assembly elections on Friday predicted a BJP government in the state with the Congress improving its seat tally. According to the poll, the saffron party is projected to win 104 seats in the 182-member Assembly while the Congress is likely to get 75 seats. All exit polls had on Thursday predicted a clean sweep for the BJP in the Assembly elections held in Gujarat, giving the saffron party seats in the range of 99-135. The Congress, however, rejected the surveys and said that the outcome would be different than what was projected by the exit polls. In a bid to portray another clear picture of the ground reality, we asked 30 senior journalists their opinion on the basis of the popular support among the people of Gujarat. They predicted that the BJP is set to retain Gujarat with 104 seats. A party has to win 92 seats or more to form a government in the state. Region-wise prediction According to the scribes, BJP is likely to secure 25 seats in the Saurashtra-Kutch region whereas the Congress may get 27. The region has constituencies.

#ABPExitPoll Journalists covering and reporting widely on Saurashtra-Kutch (54 seats) elections predict a neck-and-neck battle between BJP and Congress in this region. #GujaratElection2017 https://t.co/ltXO0PIGSJ pic.twitter.com/5mpWPzsdsa

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 15, 2017

ABP News exit poll had on Thursday predicted 31-37 seats for BJP and 16-22 for Congress in Saurashtra-Kutch region. In South Gujarat, journalists covering Assembly elections predict 21 seats for BJP and 14 for Congress. Scribes, based upon their ground analysis, predict a clean sweep for BJP in North Gujarat region. They are giving 34 seats to the saffron party and 19 to the Congress.

#ABPExitPoll Journalists covering region of North Gujarat (53) believe BJP may get 34 seats while the Congress 19 https://t.co/JQJlKZeiOk#GujaratElection2017pic.twitter.com/IVAH1Ke3Q0 — ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 15, 2017

In Central Gujarat, Journalists predict BJP to get 24 out of 40 seats in the Central Gujarat region. Congress is projected to win 15 seats.

#ABPExitPoll Journalists reporting on Central Gujarat (40 seats) elections predict 24 seats for BJP, 16 for Congress https://t.co/JQJlKZeiOk#GujaratElection2017pic.twitter.com/38ID0U1Mf3

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 15, 2017

  What exit poll predicted

• The ABP-CSDS exit poll by ABP News predicted a BJP victory in 117 seats as against the Congress's 64.
• The Times Now-VMR Exit poll predicted 115 seats for the BJP, 64 for the Congress, and the remaining for other parties.
• The Republic-C Voter Exit Poll gave the BJP 108 seats and the Congress, 74.
• A poll on NDTV said the BJP would get 112 seats and the Congress 70.
• A survey by 'Aaj Tak' also predicted that the BJP, which has been ruling Gujarat for almost 20 years, would retain power in the state. It said the BJP would emerge as the winner in 99-113 Assembly segments in the state, while the Congress could win 68-82 seats.
• India TV-VMR survey also forecast a BJP win, with the party likely to clinch anywhere between 108 and 118 seats. The Congress, it said, could win 61 to 71 seats.
• The News X Exit polls gave 110-120 seats to BJP and 65 to 75 seats to the Congress, leaving 2-4 seats for others.
• Today's Chanakya gave BJP 135 seats in Gujarat and predicted a measly 47 for the Congress.