Exit polls 2019 are out, and they look super interesting

The polling for the 17th Lok Sabha election has ended today with the end of the 7th phase of elections. The elections have witnessed a voter turnout of 67.37% in the parliament for voting in the 542 parliamentary constituencies. These Lok Sabha elections have been extremely public, with the citizens discussing every move made by the political parties. One of the biggest factors of this has been the influx of social media, enabling the citizens to be extremely aware of the political developments. From Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati’s politics of appeasement to Mamata Banerjee’s political violence and the even abusive statements; everything has been seen and heard by the citizens. Moreover, media, both national and international have been extremely active in the political developments. Now the media organizations have released exit poles, gauging public mood with regards to which party is favored.

Back in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, exit polls had indicated an overwhelming BJP majority. According to last year’s exit polls:

• ABP Nielson had predicted 281 seats for NDA with 249 seats for BJP alone. Meanwhile, it had given 73 seats to Congress and 141 seats to the “others”, i.e., the regional parties.
• TimesNow-ORG had predicted 249 seats for NDA with 210 seats for BJP. Congress had been given 105 seats and the regional parties had 146 seats.
• CNN-IBN-CSDS Lokniti had predicted 272-280 seats for NDA with 230-242 seats for BJP. The congress has been given a range of 72-82 seats and the regional parties had 111-143 seats.
• Headlines Today- Cicero had envisaged 261-283 seats for NDA and more than 221 seats for BJP out of those. Congress was given more than 85 seats and the other parties had got a range of 150-162 seats.
• Chanakya had given a whopping 340 seats to NDA with BJP getting 291. The Congress had got 57 seats and the regional parties had a number of 133 seats.
• India TV-C Voter had predicted 289 seats for NDA and out of those, 250 seats were given to BJP. The Congress had 78 seats and the regional parties had 148 seats.

After the actual results came out, it was seen that NDA had managed to win 336 seats with BJP attaining 282 seats individually. Whereas, Congress had managed a meagre 44. Though the numbers varied but, by and large, the exit polls had indicated a sweeping NDA victory and that is exactly what had happened.

In 2019, big pollsters like News18-IPSOS, India Today-Axis, Times Now-CNX, NewsX-Neta, Republic-Jan Ki Baat, Republic-CVoter, 5Forty3, and ABP-CSDS has issued exit polls for the outcome of elections today. These polls are an indication of the results, which will be released on 23rd May, as they are the primary means to understand the mood of the public.

This time, a similar pattern can be seen. If these figures are to be believed, the BJP is likely to get a full majority in the Lok Sabha elections this time around as well. 

Here is a list of Exit poll predictions so far:

According to the Exit polls, NDA is set to return to power with a stunning majority. According to the exit polls, BJP has performed exceptionally well in states where it had lost in the recent assembly elections. In Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab BJP has scored well.