ABP Exit Poll: PM Modi, Akhilesh, Sonia set to win; alert for Rahul in Amethi

The BJP is set to make deep inroads into the Trinamool Congress territory of West Bengal in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to an exit poll conducted by ABP News. The saffron party, which has been looking towards West Bengal for the past couple of years, is slated to win 16 seats in the state, adding 14 Lok Sabha constituencies to its tally of two in previous polls.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's TMC, which swept the 2014 general elections in the state by bagging 34 Lok Sabha seats, may be reduced 24 seats. The Congress, which won four seats in 2014, may get only two seats. The CPI(M) led Left Front may draw a blank here.

A good show in West Bengal is vital for the BJP, as it is eyeing its second term at the Centre.

The state went to polls in seven phases and witnessed the bitterest electioneering this time between the TMC and the BJP. Also, voting in West Bengal was marred with violence during all the seven phases.

The major incident of violence was witnessed during a road show of BJP chief Amit Shah, with the statue of Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, an icon of West Bengal, being vandalised. In view of the violence, the Election Commission took an unprecedented step of curtailing poll campaign in the state by a day as it ordered stoppage of poll campaigning from 10 p.m. on Thursday, instead of 6 pm on Friday, in the nine Lok Sabha constituencies.

Meanwhile, the exit poll predicted that the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to return to power winning 277 seats in Lok Sabha elections, five seats above the majority mark. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could win 130 seats while other regional parties are tipped to win 135 seats.

In terms of vote share, the exit poll predicts 39 per cent votes to the NDA, followed by 26 per cent votes to the UPA. Others account for 35 per cent vote share. The exit poll shows that the BJP is expected to win 227 seats, a 30 per cent decline over 2014, while the Congress is seen bagging 87 seats (almost a 200 per cent jump).

The exit poll predicted that the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Mahagathbandhan will emerge as the third largest force in the 17th Lok Sabha with 56 seats.