Exit Polls Hint at Tight Contests in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
HYDERABAD: Exit poll surveys released by various organisations on Saturday have indicated that a pot-boiler of sorts could be on the cards on June 4 when the actual counting of votes takes place for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh. A similar tight contest could well be on the menu for Telangana too for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
While for the Lok Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh, a clutch of exit polls have pointed to a good showing by the National Democratic Alliance with the TD-BJP-Jana Sena combination, in Telangana, it is expected to be a fairly close contest between the Congress and the BJP, with the BRS getting pushed to a distant third with the party facing the possible prospects of a total wipeout if the 0-1 exit poll seat predictions are anything to go by.
The bitter electoral battle between the TD and the YSRC in Andhra Pradesh was reflected in some exit polls predicting a near sweep for the TD and its allies, the BJP and Jana Sena while others pointed that it could well be the other way round.
One of those who made a huge projection for the TD was the TV5 Telugu exit poll giving the party a clear majority with 161 seats with the YSRCP predicted to get reduced to a mere 14 seats. Several other polls, including one by AARA pointed to a much better and winning prospects for the YSRC.
AARAA Mastan gave the YSRC anywhere between 94 and 104 seats and the TD 71-81 seats, while C Voter predicted that the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led ruling party would get between 97-108 seats and the TD would have to be satisfied with 67-78 seats.
However, when it came to the Lok Sabha elections, most polls predicted a very good show by the BJP led NDA with the YSRC coming second.
In Telangana, which saw a three way battle between the Congress, the BJP and the BRS, the biggest loser appears to be the BRS which almost all polls said would get none, or at best one seat. A much closer contest is on the cards between the Congress and the BJP with one of the 17 total seats going to the AIMIM from Hyderabad.
However, almost all polls gave the BJP a slight edge over the Congress though the exit poll numbers point to a pretty close contest that could go either way between these two parties.
While AARAA Mastan said the BJP could win between eight and nine seats, and the Congress between seven and eight, C-Voter indicated that both parties could end up getting between seven and nine seats. The biggest one sided opinion came from the My Axis poll which said the BJP could walk away with 11-12 seats in Telangana followed by Congress with 4-6 with the BRS having a chance of bagging 1 seat with the MIM getting 1 seat.