Exit polls bite the dust!

PTI, Jun 4, 2024, 7:16 PM IST

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New Delhi: The Exit polls for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections were way off the mark this time with the opposition INDIA bloc – whose rout they had predicted – touching nearly 230 seats on the counting day with good showing in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh as per the current trends.

The performance of the BJP-led NDA was far below the forecast of exit polls, which had given the ruling alliance over 350 seats.

At 4.40 PM, the NDA was leading on more than 290 seats, while the INDIA bloc was close to achieving 230 seats.

After being routed in 2019 polls, the Congress made a comeback in states like Rajasthan and Haryana, while improving considerably in Uttar Pradesh courtesy its ally Samajwadi Party.

Published on June 1, all exit polls forcast a victory with over 350 seats for BJP-led NDA government, with News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicting even 400 seats for the alliance.

While India Today-Axis My India had forecast 361-401 seats for the BJP-led alliance and 131-166 seats for the opposition INDIA bloc in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ABP-C Voter predicted 353-383 seats for the ruling alliance and 152-182 seats for the rival bloc.

Today’s Chanakya predicted 335 seats to the BJP and 400 to the NDA, with a margin of 15 seats either way. It gave 107 seats to the opposition alliance with a possibility of its tally going up or down by 11 seats.

The BJP had given the slogan of ‘400 paar’ for its alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Times Now-ETG Research’s exit poll gave 358 and 152 seats to the NDA and the INDIA bloc, respectively.

The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win up to 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 154 seats. The Republic TV-Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the opposition.

The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the opposition alliance. The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169.

News 18 predicted that the BJP on its own will get 306-315 seats while its alliance will bag 355-370 seats.

In the 2019 polls, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA tally was 353.

The Congress had bagged 53 seats and its allies 38. The INDIA bloc was formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.