Exit polls: Bad news for BJP, Oppn alliance elated

Exit polls predicted bad news for BJP in Jharkhand Assembly elections with pollsters giving the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance an edge to unseat the ruling saffron party from power.

 Two exit polls – AxisMyIndia-India Today TV and Kashish News – gave a definite edge to JMM-led alliance while IANS-CVoter gave a hung Assembly but with the Opposition alliance on top.

 If the actual results, when votes are counted on December 23, turn against BJP, it would be a set back for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. This will be the third consecutive Assembly elections after Lok Sabha polls that the BJP would be finding it difficult.

 In Maharashtra, its ally Shiv Sena walked out to form a government with Opposition while in Haryana, where it did not cross the majority mark, had to depend on Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) to form the government.

In a House of 81 MLAs in Jharkhand Assembly, the AxisMyIndia-India Today TV gave the Hemant Soren-led JMM alliance 38-50 seats while BJP under Chief Minister Raghubar Das was projected to win just 22-32 seats.

 Sudesh Mahato-led All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which broke its alliance with BJP, is predicted not to do well with polls showing it winning 3-5 seats and Babulal Marandi-led JVM bagging 2-4 seats.

 Kashish News Survey gave JMM alliance 37-49 seats, BJP 25-30, AAJSU 2-4 and Others 2-4.

 In the 2014 polls, BJP got 37 seats and formed the government with alliance partner AJSU, which had won five seats. Within months, six MLAs of JVM switched sides to joined BJP.

 Congress had won just six seats in the previous polls but this time riding on JMM bandwagon, it hopes to increase its tally. Last time, its candidates lost security deposit in 42 of the 62 seats it contested. Later, Congress won two bypolls.