Exit Polls Predict NDA Hat-Trick with Over 350 Seats; INDIA Alliance to Get Around 150

As voting concluded in the final phase of the eighteenth Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, exit poll results have been released. According to these results, the NDA alliance is poised to achieve a hat-trick in forming the central government. Averaging various exit polls, the BJP-led NDA alliance is projected to secure over 350 seats, while the INDIA alliance of opposition parties is expected to gain around 150 seats. The remaining seats are likely to go to other parties. A majority in the 543-seat Lok Sabha requires 272 seats, no exit poll has estimated less than this number for the NDA. However, these are merely estimates; the actual results will be known after counting of the votes on June 4.

The average of six exit polls indicates that the BJP alliance will win 357 seats, and the INDIA alliance will secure 148 seats. Within the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to obtain 327 seats, while the Congress is estimated to get 52 seats. In the 2019 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 seats. India TV's exit poll forecasts the NDA alliance will receive between 371 and 401 seats, while Jan Ki Baat predicts 362 to 392 seats for the NDA. Dainik Bhaskar's exit poll gives the NDA the fewest seats, ranging from 281 to 350.

All exit polls indicate improved performance for the NDA in southern and eastern states. In Andhra Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party allied with Chandrababu Naidu, the NDA is expected to win 18 out of 25 seats. Despite a Congress government in Karnataka, the BJP appears to be gaining more seats there as well. In Telangana, the BJP is projected to win at least half of the 17 seats. The party is also expected to win two seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala.

In West Bengal, which has 42 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP is likely to win 18 to 22 seats. In Odisha, it is projected to win 15 out of 21 seats. Both states are currently governed by regional parties, Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, respectively. The BJP is also expected to maintain its dominance in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi.

In the last election, the BJP alliance won 39 out of 40 seats in Bihar. This time, the INDIA alliance is expected to secure 7 seats. In Haryana, the opposition alliance is projected to win three out of 10 seats. In Rajasthan, the BJP may lose some seats, and in Maharashtra, one-third of the seats may go to the opposition alliance.