Hours after the exit poll projections gave Congress an edge over the BJP in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said his party was on course to secure a ‘huge majority’.
He added that while most pollsters are predicting the Congress tally at 57, the number will swell to 75 by the time the results are declared on December 3, the counting day.
Speaking to reporters after 5-7 exit poll projections put Congress in the lead, Baghel said the numbers quoted in these polls will stabilise in the next couple of days.
“Are the numbers consistent in the seven exit polls? After two days, the numbers quoted in these exit-poll projections will stabilise and settle. Regardless of the exit-poll projections, we are confident of forming the government in Chhattisgarh with a handsome majority,” Baghel told reporters on Thursday.
Weighing in on one of the projections, Baghel said, “What is 57 now will be 75 in the days leading up to counting day.”
The poll conducted by India Today’s Chanakya predicted that Congress would get 57-66 seats in Chhattisgarh while the BJP would bag 33-42 seats, with 0-3 seats going to others.
On whether the BJP could launch an ‘Operation Lotus’ if the projected numbers for the state hold, the Chhattisgarh CM said, “They won’t be able to do so.”
“We have a majority, we believe in our hard work and have faith in the people,” Baghel added.
While three polls predicted a clear victory of Congress, others said that the party was in the winning range. The Congress fought the election with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at the helm.
According to ABP C-Voter predictions, Congress is poised to win 41-53 seats in the state which has a 90-member assembly. The exit poll said BJP is poised to get 36-48 seats and others 0-4 seats.
The India Today-Axis My India poll predicted Congress getting 40-50 seats, BJP 36-46 seats and others getting 1-5 seats.
The Republic TV exit poll gave Congress 44-52 seats, BJP 34-42 seats and 0-2 polls for others.
India TV-CNX poll predicted 46- 56 seats for Congress, 30-40 seats for BJP and 3-5 for others. The numbers for Congress and BJP in the Jan Ki Baat exit poll were 42-53 and 34-45 respectively and it predicted 0-3 seats for others.
The P-Marq poll said Congress is poised to win 46-54 seats with 44.6 per cent vote, BJP 35-42 seats with 42.9 per cent vote and others will get 0-2 seats with 12.5 per cent votes.
Chhattisgarh went to the polls in two phases on November 7 and 17 and the counting of votes, along with that in the other four states, will take place on December 3.
In 2018, the Congress won 68 seats in Chhattisgarh and the BJP won 15 seats. Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) won five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party won two seats.
