New Delhi: A survey by India Today-Axis My India has suggested a neck and neck fight in Haryana and predicted it could have a hung assembly even as most exit polls have indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would return to power easily.
It suggests that the Dushyant Chautala-led Jantantrik Janata Party (JJP) may win 6-10 seats in the 90-member state assembly and could play a crucial role in the government formation.
After the polling ended on Monday, most other pollsters predicted that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was set to lead the government again.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll results show the BJP would be marginally ahead of rival Congress with 32-44 seats. It has predicted 30-42 seats for the Congress.
In the last assembly election, the BJP won 47 seats while the half-way mark in Haryana assembly is 45. The Congress had just 15 seats.
In terms of vote share, the India Today-Axis My India poll predicts 33 % for the BJP and 32 % for the Congress. The JJP it predicted would get 14 %. Region-wise, it predicted that the BJP would win 6 of the 14 seats in Ambala. The Congress is expected to win 7 seats and the JJP one.
In the Faridabad region, it has given the BJP 5 of the 12 and the Congress 6. In Gurgaon, has it predicted that the BJP would win 7 of the 11 seats, while the Congress and others would bag two seats each.
In the Hisar region, the BJP and the Congress are likely to win 6 seats each. The JJP could win 5 seats in this region, it said. In Karnal, it predicted 4 for the Congress and 8 for the BJP. Khattar is a contestant from this region.
The poll gave the Congress 10 out of 20 seats in Rohtak, an area that is seen to be a stronghold of former chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The poll gave the BJP 6 seats in Rohtak.
“We are of the firm belief that we will get 45-50 seats and the Congress will form the government comfortably. This survey is closer to the reality,” said Haryana Congress leader Ved Prakash Vidrohi. He expressed confidence that the party would register a better performance than what this poll has suggested.
Other polls have shown the BJP emerging as a clear winner. News 18-IPSOS has predicted the BJP would win 75 seats. The Congress, the same poll said, would get 10 seats.
The most conservative projection came from the Republic-Jan Ki Baat poll, which suggested that the BJP would bag between 52 and 63 seats and the Congress 15-19 seats. It gave the third position to the new party, JJP.
The ABP-C Voter poll gave the BJP 70 seats, the Congress eight seats, and others 12 seats in the state. The Times Now poll gave 71 seats to the BJP, 11 to the Congress and eight to others.
Hindustan Times has not conducted any exit polls on its own, or partnered with any agency for the purpose, and cannot independently verify the authenticity of the polls. The results of the elections will be declared on October 24.
