Resurgent Congress poised for comeback as exit polls forecast strong majority

After remaining out of power for a decade, the Congress is poised for a strong comeback in Haryana, with exit polls predicting a comfortable majority for the party in the fiercely contested elections. According to NDTV’s Poll of Polls, the Congress is projected to win between 55 and 62 seats, well above the 46-seat majority needed to form the government in the 90-member House.

AAP may not open account

AAP, whose supremo Arvind Kejriwal, has declared that the party would play kingmaker after October 8, may not open its account. While all major exit polls have given zero seats to AAP, only one conducted by Dainik Bhaskar has given one seat to the party.

The ruling BJP, facing 10 years of anti-incumbency, is trailing significantly, with most exit polls giving it 20-32 seats. Other parties, including INLD-BSP, JJP-ASP, AAP, and Independents, which had hoped to act as ‘kingmakers’, are projected to win between 0 and 14 seats in various exit polls.

The India Today-CVoter survey has also predicted a strong performance for Congress, with 50-58 seats, compared to the BJP’s 20-28 seats. News 24 has given Congress 55-62 seats, solidly enough to form a government on its own, while predicting only 18-24 seats for the BJP.

Similarly, the Times Now survey forecasts a Congress victory with 50-64 seats, leaving the BJP with 22-32 seats. Dainik Bhaskar’s projection is slightly more conservative, estimating 44-54 seats for Congress and 15-29 seats for the BJP. Meanwhile, People’s Pulse predicts 49-61 seats for Congress and 20-32 for the BJP.

In contrast, the 2019 Assembly elections saw most exit polls overestimate the BJP’s performance, with the ABP-CVoter predicting 72 seats for the BJP and just 8 for the Congress. Ultimately, the BJP secured 40 seats and formed a government in alliance with the JJP, which won 10 seats and acted as kingmaker.