The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Exit polls
Close fight in Punjab, hung House in UP
Faraz Ahmad/TNS

New Delhi, March 3
Results of the exit polls in five states predict a hung Assembly in Uttar Pradesh and a close fight in Punjab. Contrary to the claims of Congress chief ministerial candidate in Punjab and its former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the pollsters don't predict a sweep for the Congress in the 117-member Assembly.

For all efforts put in by Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, the Congress is projected to occupy the fourth position in UP.

For Uttar Pradesh, there is general agreement across the board among five different pollsters who conducted these exit polls that Samajwadi Party is set to emerge as the number one party and the BSP is going to lose power in a House of 403. However, there is a wide gap between the projections of one pollster and another in terms of numbers. This is evident not just in UP but more so in Punjab and Uttarakhand, which are crucial to the main Opposition party, the BJP. There is no disagreement among all the five pollsters that UP is heading for a hung Assembly, something the state has been facing since 1993, except in the last Assembly elections in 2007, when Mayawati-led BSP got a clear majority on its own.

The CNN-IBN-The Week exit poll painted the best picture for the SP and the worst for BSP, predicting for the SP 185, BSP 85, BJP 56 and Congress 55 seats. Against that, the India TV-C-Voter exit poll painted the most dismal picture for the Congress, projecting for the SP 141, BSP 126, BJP 83 and Congress 36 seats.

Headlines Today-Aaj Tak predicted for the SP anywhere between 145 and 165, BSP 115-125, Congress plus (Congress and Ajit Singh's RLD) 45-65 and BJP more than 60 seats.

Star News-ACNielson figures are: SP 160, BSP 86, BJP 80, Cong+ 70 and others, 7. The News 24-Chanakya poll predicted 185 for SP, 85 for BSP, 55 for BJP, 55 for Congress+ and 23 for others. At least two pollsters, IBN and News 24, agree that the Congress tally may not cross 60.

The IBN figures for Punjab are Congress: 60, SAD-BJP: 51-63 and others: 3-9 seats. The News 24-Chanakya poll predicts: Cong-60, SAD+BJP 52 and Others: 5. But the India TV-C Voter figures are a little more encouraging for the Congress and disappointing for the Akali Dal-BJP alliance. They predict for the Congress 65, SAD+BJP 47 and others 5 seats.