Telangana exit polls: TRS set to win clear majority

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao's decision to dissolve the state assembly eight months ahead of the end of the term seems to have worked for him with exit polls of Telangana elections predicting a clear victory for his party. An exit poll conducted by India Today-Axis My India gave the TRS a whopping 46 per cent vote share, which will get the party 71 to 91 seats in the 119-member assembly. The TDP-Congress, which includes two other parties, is projected to get 21-33 seats. The BJP may get somewhere between 1-3 seats. Times Now-CNX exit poll also gave the TRS a comfortable majority in the assembly elections and predicted 66 seats for the party. According to the survey, the Congress-TDP alliance will get 37 seats and the BJP only 7. Republic-Jan Ki Baat exit poll said the KCR's party will get somewhere between 50-65 seats and the TDP-Congress alliance 38-52. It projected 4-7 seats for the BJP. An exit poll by TV9 Telugu-ARA predicted a clean sweep for the TRS with 75-85 seats and to the BJP it gave 25-35 seats. About 70 percent of 2.8 voters votes in the Telangana Assembly election on Friday as the polling ended on a peaceful note, barring minor incidents. Polling ended in 106 constituencies at 5 p.m. but those standing in queues were allowed to cast their votes. The exact poll percentage will be known after receipt of detailed reports from the districts, officials said in Hyderabad. The assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved on September 6 as per a recommendation of the state cabinet. It is to be seen if TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's gamble to opt for early elections pays off. The Congress has stitched together the 'Prajakutami' (People's Front) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), to take on the ruling TRS. The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. While KCR was without doubt the star campaigner for the TRS, the Congress and the BJP fielded their bigwigs for the campaign.