Exit poll projections for Bengal on expected lines : Salman Khurshid

New Delhi : The exit poll findings released on Thursday dont look very exciting for the Congress, as except in Tamil Nadu, the Congress is unlikely to wrest power in any of the remaining four states/UT that went to the polls.Former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that the exit poll projections for West Bengal are on the expected lines.Speaking to IANS, Khurshid said, “The BJP had carried out an expensive and high-decibel campaign in Bengal, using everything at its disposal, but the people there generally believe that despite the short comings, the government led by Mamata Banerjee has empowered them for some time.””Mamata Banerjee would hold her ground — this was impression I got when I visited the state,” he added.As per CVoter Exit Poll for Times Now/ABP News data, the incumbent Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee is likely to retain power in the state for the third consecutive term despite facing a tough challenge from the BJP.The BJP is projected to win 115 seats in the 294-member Bengal Assembly, 33 short of the halfway mark of 148 seats. The BJP, however, will gain 112 seats in comparison to its performance in the last Assembly polls in which the saffron party had won only three seats.

The exit poll shows that despite losing grounds, the Trinamool will still manage to win 158 seats, 10 more than the magic figure of 148.The exit poll shows data for 292 seats in West Bengal, as elections in two seats were withheld after the deaths of the candidates.The exit poll shows that the Left, which had ruled the state for more than three decades, is likely to be reduced to a marginal player, despite having a pre-poll alliance with the Congress.The alliance of Congress, Left and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif’s influential cleric Abbas Siddiqui is projected to win 19 seats, 59 less than what it had won in the last polls.The exit polls projected a seat range of 152 to 164 for the ruling Trinamool, 109 to 121 for the BJP and 14 to 25 for the Congress and its alliance partners.The exit poll shows that the Trinamool is expected to secure 42.1 per cent votes. In 2016, the party had got 44.9 per cent votes, marking a dip of 2.8 per cent in its vote share in this year’s poll.The vote share of the BJP, which has emerged as the main challenger to the ruling Trinamool, is expected to witness a huge jump of 29 per cent from 10.2 per cent in 2016 to 39.2 per cent in 2021.The exit poll shows that the vote share of the Left-Congress combine is expected to see a huge decline of 22.6 per cent from 38.0 per cent in 2016 to 15.4 per cent in 2021.