Performance of INDIA Flouts Exit Poll Forecasts, While NDA Hits 300

New Delhi: As per early trends in counting, the NDA is past the majority mark but INDIA alliance is also in the fight.

This year’s election has also bucked the trend of the last 10 years, owing to an absence of wave or public anger. What has been apparent in parts of the country is a sense of discontent over local issues including unemployment and inflation.

Voting was held for 543 Lok Sabha seats over seven phases, which ended on June 1. The majority mark is 272. The counting of votes for assembly elections in two states, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh is also taking place.

The BJP hopes to make big gains in Bengal, Odisha and the southern states. The other key battleground states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

Three exit polls have predicted a 400-plus score for the BJP-led NDA. The rest also predict NDA victory with dufefrence in opinion in margin.

In this election, BJP’s formidable election machinery faced

the Opposition’s offensive. While the beginning was shaky and in parts, patchy — like the Congress versus Trinamool contest in Bengal and Congress versus AAP in Punjab — the narrative on a change in constitution and scrapping of reservation made an impact.

Compared to 2019, the line-ups of the two sides have also changed, Maharashtra being the epicentre of the shake-up. NDA ally Shiv Sena walked out of the alliance and joined the Opposition ranks, splitting a few years later. Maharashtra powerhouse Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), split too and the Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions became part of the NDA.

The election is being held in the shadow of allegations about the Central investigative agencies being used to target key leaders of the Opposition. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the liquor policy case and out to campaign on interim bail, returned to jail yesterday.