No BJP hype can stop SP-Congress impact in UP: Prithviraj Chavan

Stressing that the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will create an impact in Uttar Pradesh, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday asserted the results will be completely different that what the exit polls showed, regardless of the hype created by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Talking to ANI Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said the exit polls numbers should not be taken very seriously.

"I think exit polls have their utility, they have their own place but you don't decide strategy based on exit polls. You only decide the strategy of further course of action only after the final results come. ..but don't take the numbers very seriously. I think the UP alliance of SP and Congress will create an impact and no matter what the media and the hype the BJP has created the results will be different," he said.

Various exit polls released on Thursday showed the BJP doing well in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and even Manipur, with the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party locked in a tough contest in Punjab.

However, the numbers given by the exit polls varied widely, suggesting convergences only in broad trends.

In Uttar Pradesh, where five polls - India News MRC, Times Now VMR, ABP Lokniti CSDS, India TV-C Voter and India Today Axis - showed the BJP as leading the race, the saffron party's projected tally varied from 155 to 279 seats. The SP-Congress tally varied from 88 to 169 seats, while the BSP was shown winning just between 28 and 93 seats.

As voting wraps up in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, the results will be declared later in the day.