Exit polls: Mamata Banerjee set to retain Bengal, DMK to conquer Tamil Nadu

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is set to retain power for the third consecutive term in West Bengal, while the DMK is set to dethrone arch rival AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, exit polls showed on Thursday.

While BJP is a close second in West Bengal, the saffron party is likely to retain Assam and win Puducherry, according to the exit polls. Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF is set to return to power for the second time in a row in Kerala.

The Times Now CVoter survey showed TMC winning 158 seats out of 294 in West Bengal while BJP getting 115 seats. The ABP CVoter survey gave maximum 164 seats to TMC and maximum 121 to BJP.

ETG Research and P-Marq gave 170-plus seats to TMC and 105-132 seats to BJP in West Bengal where the majority mark is 148 seats.

The surveys suggests that the Left, which had ruled the state for more than three decades, is likely to be reduced to a marginal player, despite forming a pre-poll alliance with the Congress.

Also, the entry of a Muslim front - comprising the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the influential cleric Abbas Siddiqui's new party Indian Secular Front - into the electoral fray will fail to spell trouble for the Trinamool Congress.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the Trinamool had won 211 seats, the BJP had secured 3 seats while the Left-Congress combine had cornered 76 seats.

The Times Now CVoter survey stated that Assam would see a photo-finish for both the BJP and the Congress, as the UPA is poised to close the gap with the NDA. As per the survey, the ruling NDA would win the state polls but it would be a tough fight as the UPA will follow closely on its heels.

The exit poll stated that the NDA has a slight edge with 65 seats in the 126-member Assembly, one more than the majority mark of 64, while the UPA would win 59 seats. The projected seats for NDA are between 58 and 71, while for the UPA, they are between 53 and 66.

As per the exit poll, the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot' will get 48.8 per cent votes, while the NDA will get 42.9 per cent votes and others 8.3 per cent votes.

In 126-member Assembly, Independents and others will be the key players with the BJP having the edge being the ruling party in the state.

In Kerala, it's a straight-forward electoral battle between the incumbent Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

According to exit polls, the ruling LDF is expected to retain power in the southern state, thus bucking the trend of the incumbent tasting defeat in every second electoral cycle.

The exit poll data for Tamil Nadu show that the first Assembly elections held after the death of political stalwarts of J. Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi will witness the return of M.K. Stalin-led DMK-Congress alliance to power with a clear majority.

Translated into seats, the survey shows that the DMK-led alliance is projected to secure 160 to 172 seats in the state having a total of 234 Assembly constituencies. The incumbent AIADMK-led alliance is expected to be restricted to 58 to 70 seats in the state.

The exit poll data show that the NDA will win the Union Territory of Puducherry with two-third majority. The NDA is projected to win 21 out of the 30 Assembly seats in the UT, which went to the polls on April 6.

The CVoter poll projected 19 to 23 seats for the NDA comprising AINRC, BJP and AIADMK. The UPA, which includes the Congress and the DMK, will win 8 seats with a projected range of 8-10 seats.

(With IANS inputs)