The alliance led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win an emphatic majority in the general election, TV exit polls say, suggesting the right-wing party would perform better than expected by most analysts.
Most exit polls on Saturday projected that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of Parliament, where 272 are needed for a simple majority.
A summary of six exit polls projected the NDA could win between 355 and 380 seats, a number that is likely to boost financial markets when they reopen on Monday.
The NDA won 353 seats in the 2019 general elections, of which the BJP accounted for 303.
The six exit polls that gave the BJP-led NDA a clear majority are: Republic Bharat-P Marq (359), India News-D-Dyanamics (371), Republic Bharat-Matrix (353-368) Dainik Bhaskar ( 281-350), News Nation (342-378) and Jan Ki Baat (362-392), according to a report by India’s NDTV network.
Another poll released by broadcaster CNN-News18 predicted that the BJP and its coalition allies would win 355 seats.
The INDIA opposition alliance led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party was projected to win more than 120 seats, according to polls that were broadcast after six weeks of voting concluded on Saturday.
Exit polls, which are conducted by polling agencies, have a spotty record in India as they often return wrong results, with analysts saying it is a challenge to get them right in a large and diverse country.
The opposition rejected the exit polls and, before their publication, called them “prefixed” following a meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi early on Saturday.
Most opposition parties accuse India’s main news channels of being biased in favor of Modi, accusations the channels have denied. They also say that exit polls in India are mostly unscientific.
“This is a government exit poll, this is Narendra Modi’s exit poll,” Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate told news agency ANI. “We have a sense of how many seats we are winning.”
Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs the national capital territory of Delhi, told the Press Trust of India that the exit polls are “by the government and the BJP”.
“Exit polls always show the BJP winning. At the meeting [of INDIA bloc]the leaders said that 295 seats will be allotted to the INDIA alliance and we will form a government,” he said.
𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝟐𝟗𝟓+ pic.twitter.com/CXMHl4t66Z
– Congress (@INCIndia) June 1, 2024
Nearly a billion people were able to vote in the seven-phase elections that began on April 19 and were held in the scorching summer heat in many parts.
The Electoral Commission will count the votes on June 4 and results are expected on the same day.
In his first comments after voting ended, Modi claimed victory without referring to the exit polls.
“I can say with confidence that the people of India voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government,” he said on X, without providing proof of his claim. “The opportunistic INDI Alliance failed to please voters. They are casteist, communal and corrupt.”
A victory for Modi, 73, would make him only the second prime minister after independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to win three consecutive terms.
Many in the prime minister’s Varanasi constituency – which went to the polls on Saturday – said they were excited at the prospect of his return to power.
“I voted in favor of the growth and development of my country,” Varanasi resident Brijesh Taksali told AFP news agency outside a polling station. “I only know one leader… Narendra Modi. I voted for him.”
Varanasi is an important temple city of the Hindu faith, where devotees from across India come to cremate deceased loved ones on the banks of the Ganges River.
But Janesar Akhtar, a Muslim seamstress who works in Varanasi’s famous embroidery workshops, said the BJP’s sectarian campaign was an unfortunate distraction from India’s chronic unemployment problems.
“Workshops here are closing and the Modi government has been busy with temple and mosque politics,” said the 44-year-old. “He should give us jobs, not tensions.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
