Exit polls yet again throw up contrasting results

After the six exit polls released by different survey agencies and television channels, four of which predicted an edge to the Janata Dal (United)-led Mahagathbandhan, two more exit polls released their survey findings on Friday with contrasting forecasts.

The NDTV-Hansa Research forecasted a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It said the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance was likely to cross the half-way mark of 122-seats in the 243-member Assembly with 120 to 130 seats.

However, the Axis-APM exit poll, released on its website, predicted a resounding victory for the Mahagathbandhan, with a whooping 169 to 183 seats, while the NDA getting a mere 58 to 70 seats. It predicted as many as 26 to 30 seats to the Congress of the 40 it contested. Of the 58-70 seats for the NDA, it predicted 40 to 48 seats to the BJP.