NEW DELHI: Exit poll results on Wednesday predicted a major win for the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra where it is likely to secure around 160 seats – well past the majority mark of 145 — while the Congress-led INDIA bloc is predicted to win around 120 seats.
Jharkhand, however, may see a neck-and-neck fight with the BJP-led NDA predicted to win around 40 seats and the INDIA bloc around 37 seats in the 81-member House that has a majority mark of 41 seats.
Exit polls were out soon after the close of polling in Maharashtra and the second phase of voting in Jharkhand, predicting victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra and the NDA in Jharkhand.
In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, 145 is the majority mark, while it is 41 in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. The BJP-Shiv-Sena-NCP alliance is in power in Maharashtra while JMM-Congress is ruling in Jharkhand.
Counting of votes would take place on November 23 for the single-phase Maharashtra election held on Wednesday and the two-phased voting in Jharkhand on November 13 and 20.

Maharashtra Exit Polls

While the Matrize exit poll conducted in a tie-up with several news organisations predicted 150-170 seats for the BJP and allies in Maharashtra with a 48 per cent vote share, it gave the Congress and other allies only 110-130 seats with a vote share of 42 per cent. The poll gave others 8 to 10 seats, with a vote share of 10 per cent.
Matrize predicted that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party with 89-101 seats; Congress may win 39-47, Shiv Sena 37-45, NCP 17-26, Shiv Sena (UBT) 21-19 seats and NCP-SCP 35-43 seats.

The exit poll conducted by People’s Pulse gave NDA’s Mahayuti a whopping 175-195 seats while giving only 85-112 seats to MVA and 7-12 to others in Maharashtra.
Another exit poll by P-MARQ in Maharashtra gave the NDA a total of 137-157 seats and INDIA Bloc’s MVA 126-146 seats while giving 2-8 seats to others.
Exit polls by Poll Diary predicted the NDA to win in 122-186 seats and the MVA 69-121 while forecasting 12-29 seats for others in Maharashtra.
Chanakya Strategies, another pollster, predicted 152-160 seats for Mahayuti and 130-138 seats for MVA while giving 6-8 seats for others in Maharashtra.
Lokshahi Rudra has predicted a close fight between Mahayuti and MVA in Maharashtra and gave them 128-142 seats and 125-140 respectively. It gave others 18-23 seats.

Jharkhand Exit Polls

Jharkhand is likely to see a change of government with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power in the state, three exit polls said on Wednesday with one poll giving majority to the ruling JMM-led alliance.
Elections were held in two phases for 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand.
The Matrize exit poll predicted 42-47 seats for NDA and 25-30 seats for the INDIA bloc and gave 0-4 seats to others.
AxisMyIndia, however, predicted that INDIA bloc will sweep the state with 53 seats while the NDA may win 25. The prediction seems to be an outlier with most other pollsters suggesting a much closer fight.

People’s Pulse predicted 44-53 seats for NDA and 25-37 seats for INDIA Bloc while giving 5-9 seats to others.
According to Today’s Chanakya exit poll, BJP-led NDA is likely to win 45-50 seats in the state while JMM-led alliance could win 35-38 seats. It said others could get 3-5 seats.
The BJP-led alliance include the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance includes Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
Polling for the second phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections across 38 constituencies in 12 districts concluded on Wednesday, recording an approximate voter turnout of 67.59 per cent till 5pm.
(With inputs from agencies)