TMC to retain West Bengal, DMK to sweep Tamil Nadu, exit polls indicate

Elections to seven local body wards on Jan 21

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) is set to retain West Bengal while Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will sweep Tamil Nadu, according to a slew of exit polls released on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will overcome anti-CAA sentiments to secure the highest office for a second term in Assam and a comfortable win in Puducherry, according to the polls.

However, they will be dismayed about losing West Bengal despite a powerful campaign with party stalwarts like Amit Shah and Narendra Modi on the frontlines.

Prior to the election, political analysts had predicted that there would be a landslide of votes from the Left and other opposition camps towards the BJP swelling its vote share enough to wrest power.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was again a big factor leading up to the elections.

The 2019 Act passed in haste by the Centre promised citizenship to immigrants and refugees belonging to religious minorities in Bangladesh, which borders West Bengal.

While Times Now and ABP News predicted a win for TMC with 158 and 152-164 seats respectively, Republic-CNX exit polls showed BJP in the lead with 143.

The Left, battling survival, could not secure more than 20 seats and came a distant third in all the exit polls.

The assembly election for 292 of the 294 constituencies in the West Bengal legislative assembly was held between March 27 and April 29 in seven phases. Voting for two remaining constituencies is scheduled to be held on May 16.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool Congress won 22 and the BJP won 18 of the 42 seats in West Bengal.

West Bengal Exit Polls:

Republic TV-CNX: BJP+: 138-148, TMC+: 128-138, Left+: 11-21

Times Now-CVoter Exit Poll: TMC+: 158, BJP+: 115, Left+: 19

NDTV: Mamata Banerjee's TMC to retain West Bengal - 156

CNN News18: TMC+: 162, BJP+: 115, Left+: 15

ETG Research: TMC+: 164-176, BJP+: 105-115, Left+:10-15

P-MARQ: TMC+: 152-172, BJP+: 112-132, Left+: 10-120

ABP News-CVoter: TMC+: 152-164, BJP+: 109-121, Left+: 14-25

DMK to sweep Tamil Nadu

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will sweep Tamil Nadu, according to exit polls released on Thursday.

Republic TV+CNX's exit polls indicated a clear win for MK Stalin's party with 160-170 seats in the 234 seat assembly while incumbent AIADMK (part of the National Democratic Alliance) is set to get just 58-68 seats. This is half of what they had secured in the last assembly election.

The 16th legislative assembly election 2021 is the state's first assembly election after the demises of the two prominent Chief Ministers in its modern history - J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, who died in 2016 and 2018 respectively. The state recorded 72.81 per cent voter turnout, which is 2 per cent less than the preceding 2016 election.

Tamil Nadu Exit Polls:

Republic TV+CNX: DMK+: 160-170, AIADMK+: 58-68, AMMK+: 4-6, MNM+: 0-2

NDTV: ADMK+ - 58

BJP to retain Assam

Overcoming anti-CAA sentiments, BJP and its allies are set to retain Assam.

Exit polls released on Thursday indicated a clear win for the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP.

According to India Today-Axis polls, BJP is set to secure 75-85 of the 126 seats while Congress is reeling behind with just 40-50 seats.

It predicted a 48 per cent vote share for the BJP, 40 per cent for Congress and 12 per cent for others in Assam. The sample size of India Today-Axis My India exit poll for Assam is 27,189.

The 2021 Assam assembly election was held from March 27 to April 6 in three phases to elect 126 MLAs to the state's 15th Legislative Assembly.

In the previous elections in 2016, the election brought a change of power as the Congress, which had formed the government under Tarun Gogoi since 2001, lost its majority to the BJP.

In 2019, the BJP-led Union Government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Indian parliament, promising citizenship to immigrants and refugees belonging to the religious minorities in Bangladesh.

Assam Exit Polls:

Republic-CNX: BJP+: 74-84, Congress+: 40-50, Others: 1-3

India Today-Axis My India: BJP+: 75-85, Congress+: 40-50, Others: 1-4

NDTV: BJP+: 76

ABP News-CVoter: BJP+:73, Congress+: 40-50, Others: 3

Puducherry

The BJP and its allies are set to secure Puducherry, according to exit polls released on Thursday.

Of the 30 seats, BJP is set to retain 16-20 while Congress is set to keep just 11-13, Republic TV-CNX polls indicate.

The ABP-CVoter puts this figure more favourably to the BJP - with 19-23 seats and Congress at 6-10.

The fifteenth legislative assembly election in Puducherry was held on April 6. In the previous election in 2016, the All India NR Congress (AINRC), which had formed the government under N Rangaswamy, lost its majority to the Congress led by V Narayanasamy.

Puducherry Exit Polls:

Republic TV-CNX: BJP+: 16-20, Congress+: 11-13

ABP-CVoter: BJP+: 19-23, Congress+: 6-10, Others: 1-2

NDTV: Cong+ - 12

The 2021 assembly elections were held in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry under the shadow of a raging COVID-19 pandemic. While the final result will be out only on May 2 -- the counting day, exit polls released today will give an indication of the electorate's probable choices.

An exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have voted.

In any case, the BJP has emerged as a major challenger in these elections while the Left is battling for survival. Kerala is the last state where the Left has a chief minister. On the other hand, Congress is fighting to remain relevant in Indian politics.

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