JOIN USThere is a question mark over the outcome in Kerala where the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is the favourite to return to power.
Assam may see the possibility of a hung Assembly with the Congress being the leading party. Mamata Banerjee, fiery leader of the Trinamool Congress (TC), is seen as set to hand a crushing defeat to her formidable opponent, the Left Front.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by J Jayalalitha may regain power after a gap of 10 years in Tamil Nadu where the DMK led by M Karunanidhi is seen to fall by the wayside.
Most exit polls predicted a landslide for the TC in particular and for its alliance with the Congress in general in West Bengal elections.
The CVB News-C-Voter poll forecast that Mamata’s party will bag anywhere between 184 and 192 seats in the 294-member Assembly where the Left Front (LF) may plunge to its lowest strength in the House, with 48 to 56 seats.
The Congress is poised to win 39 to 47 seats. A Headlines Today-ORG post-poll survey gave the TC-Congress alliance 210 to 220 seats
If this happens, the Left Front dreams of coming to power for the eighth time in succession—33 years at the helm—are in jeopardy. The TC-Congress alliance may even gain a whopping 227-235 seats with the Trinamool alone getting 36 per cent of votes, an increase of 10 per cent. The Left Front , however, may remain the largest block as regards vote percentage – 39 per cent, with the Congress at 16 per cent.
The Asia Net-C Fore poll gave the TC-Congress combine 203-218 seats and the Left Front up to 88 seats. Star News Television poll said the TC and Congress will win 181 and 40 respectively, while the Lefrt Front will be reduced to 62 from 227.
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK combine may have to pay dearly for all the corruption charges it faces as the rival AIADMK is set to rake in 125 to 133 seats with a vote percentage of 33 and the tally of the party-led combine going up to 176 seats, as per CVB News-C Voter survey. The DMK and its allies are expected to manage between 54 and 62 seats in a House of 234. The Asianet-C Fore poll said the AIADMK combine may garner up to 132 seats as against up to 117 of the DMK alliance. However, Star News poll said the DMK will retain power with 124 seats as against 110 of the AIADMK.
The Left Front is set to repeat the WB tragedy in Kerala, according to most exit polls. The CVB-C Voter gave the Congress-led UDF up to 91 seats and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) 57 seats out of 140. Asianet-C fore put the UDF ahead with 72-82 seats as against 58-68 for the LDF. However, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies survey for CNN-IBN and “The Week” gave an outside chance to the LDF with 69-77 seats, ahead of the UDF at 63-71 seats.
The Congress may emerge as the single largest party in Assam with up to 45 seats out of the House strength of 126 seats, according to some of the polls. If the Congress manages to sew up alliances, Tarun Gogoi can create history by becoming the chief minister for the third consecutive term.
But the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is poised to get between 14 and 18 seats, and the Assam Gana Parishad (31-35 seats) could spoil the Congress’s chances if the two decide to go in for a post-poll alliance. In such a situation, the Assam United Democratic Front, which is expected to secure between 11 and 15 seats, may play the kingmaker.