Exit polls make mixed predictions for Andhra Assembly polls

Amaravati, May 21 (IANS) While a majority of the exit polls predicted victory for BJP-led NDA at the Centre, they were divided on the likely outcome in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

The exit polls made mixed projections as to which party will form the next government in the state. While some predicted that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will storm to power, others said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will retain power.

They painted a hazy picture of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, elections for which were held along with Lok Sabha seats on April 11.

Some exit polls gave the YSRCP 111-135 seats in 175-member Assembly, other predicted that the TDP will win 90-111 seats. They predicted 1-5 seats for actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena, which made it electoral debut.

According to India Today-Axis, the YSRCP is expected to win 130-135 seats while the TDP may finish with 37-40 seats. It projected 0-1 seat for the Jana Sena. CPS predicted 130-133 seats for the YSRCP, 37 for the TDP and one for the Jana Sena.

According to VDP Associates, the YSRCP may win 111-121 seats while the TDP may get 54-60. The Jana Sena may finish with 0-4.

However, an exit poll by INSS predicted that the TDP will retain power by winning 118 seats while the YSRCP may get 52. It gave 5 seats to Pawan Kalyan's party. Elite gave 101-111 seats to the TDP and 63-73 to the YSRCP. Former MP L. Rajagopal's RG Flash Team projected 90-100 seats for the TDP and 65-79 for the YSRCP.

All the exit polls predicted that both Congress and BJP will draw a blank.

In 2014 elections, the TDP had bagged 102 seats while its then ally BJP had won four seats. The YSRCP had won 67 seats while two independents were also elected. In the Lok Sabha elections held simultaneously, the TDP had won 15 and the BJP two seats. The YSRCP bagged the remaining eight seats.

This time, exit polls have also made mixed projections for Lok Sabha polls. They gave the YSRCP 12-15 Lok Sabha seats and the TDP 10-13.

The IANS-CVOTER exit poll predicted 14 seats for the TDP while giving 11 to the YSRCP.

Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said he was "cent per cent" sure of the TDP retaining power.

The TDP supremo believes that the welfare and development programmes undertaken by his government during last five years would help it get a fresh mandate.

Naidu predicted that the TDP will win 110 seats in 175-member Assembly. "Our seats may even go up to 120-130," he told his party leaders.

He was also confident that of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the TDP will bag 18-20.

YSRCP leader Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the exit polls broadly indicated the situation in the state. "They have confirmed what we have been saying for last several months," he said.

Ramakrishna Reddy, who is political secretary to YSRCP chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was confident that the party would get more seats than projected in the exit polls.