Maharashtra Exit Polls 2019: Times Now predicts landslide win for NDA

Times Now exit poll has predicted a landslide win for the BJP led NDA in Maharashtra with 230 out of a total of 288 assembly seats, for which polls were held on Monday, going in its kitty. The exit poll predicts mere 48 seats for the Congress-NCP alliance and 10 for others.

BJP (142) and Shiv Sena (75) together held 217 seats in the last assembly compared to the 56 seats held jointly by the Congress (27) and the NCP (29) and if the if the Times Now exit poll results were to hold true, then it would be a new high for the saffron alliance and a new low for the Congress-NCP alliance in the state.

The BJP is contesting 164 seats and the Sena is fighting for 124 seats. There are two seats, Kankavali and Man, where both the BJP and Sena are contesting on their respective symbols.

As per the exit poll, NDA is likely to sweep 55 out of the 62 seats in the Vidarbha region leaving just 6 seats for the Cong-NCP combine. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ Nagpur South West constituency is located here.

The exit poll also predicts BJP-Sena alliance to win 33 out of the 36 seats in the Mumbai region, 29 out of the 39 seats in Thane-Konkan region, 26 out of the 35 seats in North Maharashtra, 36 out of the 46 seats in Marathwada and 51 out of the 70 seats in Western Maharashtra.

Congress-NCP alliance is projected to reach the double figures in Western Maharashtra with 18 seats and in Marathwada with 10 seats, as per the Times Now exit poll.

Other smaller parties are likely to remain winless in Marathwada and Mumbai regions and may win one seat each in Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra regions. Maximum gains for other regional players are predicted to come from Thane Konkan(5) and North Maharashtra (3).

District wise break up of seats provide by the news broadcast station projects saffron alliance’s complete dominance in Thane—13 wins out of 18 seats, Pune—18 out of 21, Mumbai Suburban—24 out of 26, Nagpur –11 out of 12, Aurangabad—9 out of 9, Mumbai City—9 out of 10, Solapur—9 out of 11 and Jalgaon—9 out of 11 seats.

Congress-NCP alliance is projected to come out on the top in Satara by winning 5 out of its 8 seats and in Latur with 4 wins on 6 seats, it is also predicted to offer tough resistance in Ahmednagar by winning 5 seats against BJP-Sena’s 7.

The Times Now exit poll doesn’t bring encouraging news for the NCP-Congress alliance, which is contesting on 263 seats--Congress on 146 and the NCP on 117.

In other exit polls, News 18-IPSOS predicts 243 seats for the NDA and 41 for the Congress, ABC News-C Voter predicts 204 seats for the BJP led alliance and 69 for the Congress-NCP, India Today-Axis predicts NDA to win anywhere between 166-194 seats and the UPA to win between 72-90 seats.

Republic-Jan ki Baat poll assigns a range of 216-230 seats for the saffron alliance and 52-59 seats for the Congress-NCP alliance, NewsX-POLSTRAT predicts 188-200 seats to the BJP led alliance in Maharashtra and 74-89 seats for the Congress led alliance.

Exit polls aim to project voting patterns of a small sample base to predict results for a much bigger voter base and have often been found in the past to be inaccurate.

Actual results for Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections will be declared on October 24 after counting of votes by the election commission.