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Ab ki baar phir Modi sarkaar aa rahi hai... kyunki Modi hai toh mumkin hai!
This is exactly what the exit polls are predicting.
BJP's 'Ebar Bangla', AAP's wipeout, DMK's comeback – surprise, surprise, surprise! The exit polls for the Lok Sabha Elections are full of surprises. The Quint analysed six exit polls across news channels – Times Now-VMR, India Today-Axis, ABP-Neilsen, News18 IPSOS, News24 Chankya and CVoter.
All the six agencies have predicted a clean sweep for the BJP and the NDA but there are bigger surprises than that. Let’s unbox them for you one by one!
Surprise 1: Priyanka Gandhi Ki ‘Aandhi’ to Fail in UP
The BJP is predicted to have held its ground in UP despite the Mahagathbandhan. But what's more shocking is Priyanka Gandhi's aandhi doesn’t seem to have worked, with every poll giving just two seats to the Congress in the state, predictably, Amethi and Raebareli.
Surprise 2: The Lotus to Bloom Bigger in West Bengal
The 'Ebar Bangla' slogan of the BJP seems to have turned into a reality to a certain extent. While the BJP won just two seats in 2014, five out of six polls have given the party seats in double digits in Mamata Banerjee's bastion. Moreover, every poll has predicted that the Left, that ruled the state for 30 years, won't get a single seat in the state.
Surprise 3: BJP's ‘Shree Ganesh’ in Odisha
While most of the polls have predicted 5-8 seats out of 21 for the BJP, which got just one seat in 2014 in Odisha, the India Today-Axis poll has predicted 15-19 seats for the BJP out of 21. This means a wipeout for the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), that's predicted to get 2-6 seats. The BJD has been ruling the state for the past 19 years, and got 20/21 seats in the 2014 elections.
Surprise 4: ‘Modi Tujhse Bair Nahi’ to Be True in Rajasthan
While the Congress was riding high on its victory over Vasundhara Raje in the Assembly elections held just five months ago, it looks like the popularity of PM Modi is still intact. All the six polls have predicted a clean sweep for the BJP in the state.
Surprise 5: BJP Winning Bigger in Karnataka Than 2014
The BJP is winning even bigger this time in Karnataka according to most predictions. While the saffron party won 17 out of 28 seats in 2014, four out of the six exit polls this time have predicted over 20 seats for the BJP.
Surprise 6: DMK Resurrects in Tamil Nadu
With it's first election in years without Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, all the six polls have predicted a sweep for the DMK-Congress alliance. Remember, the DMK got zero seats in Tamil Nadu in the 2014 elections.
Surprise 7: Wipeout of the Aam Aadmi Party
None of the predictions have given Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party a single seat – not in Punjab, not in Haryana, not in its bastion Delhi. The AAP, that had four years of work done in the national capital to bank on, has failed to grab a single seat anywhere in the country, according to the surveys.
Congress’s NYAY or BJP’s Chowkidaar, kiska lagega beda paar (whose ship will sail through) ? That we shall see on 23 May. Till then, if the exit polls are to be believed, looks like aayega toh Modi hi!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)