Following balloting in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur – between 4 February and 8 March, the exit poll predictions were announced on Thursday.
While the vote count is due on Saturday, here are the big highlights from the exit poll projections:
Lotus to Bloom in Uttar Pradesh
The average exit poll results – which in the past have proven to be unreliable – gave 180 seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, way short of the 202-mark needed to form a government.
According to the NewsX-MRC poll, the BJP and its allies may win 185 seats, the Congress-Samajwadi Party combine 120, and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 90.
The India TV-CVoter exit poll predicted 155-167 seats for the BJP, 135-147 for the Samajwadi-Congress alliance and 81-93 for the BSP.
The India Today-Axis poll, however, gave the BJP a comfortable majority of 251-279 seats.
Read all the updates from Uttar Pradesh as they happened here.
BJP-Akali Dal Stare at Rout in Punjab
Despite being a new entrant in the state of Punjab, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) might give the Congress a tough fight.
India TV-CVoter exit poll gave the AAP 59-67 seats. The half-way mark in the Punjab assembly is 59 seats.
NewsX-MRC and News24-Chanakya showed the latest entrant in national politics winning 51-55 seats in Punjab.
But India Today-Axis predicted a Congress win with 62-71 seats. All these polls forecast a BJP-Akali rout after 10 years in office.
Read the predictions from Punjab as they happened.
Hung Assembly in Goa?
In Goa, the average polls predicted a hung assembly.
India Today-Axis predicted 18-22 seats for the BJP and 9-13 for the Congress. The India TV-CVoter poll said the BJP was expected to win 15-21 seats, the Congress and its allies 12-18, and the AAP 0-4 seats.
The NewsX-MRC survey said the BJP may get 15, the Congress 10 and the AAP seven.
Uttarakhand to Swing the BJP Way
Uttarakhand, according to the exit poll average, is likely to swing in favour of the BJP.
IndiaToday-Axis gave the BJP 46-53 seats and the ruling Congress 12-21 in the state. News24-Chanakya also gave the BJP 53 seats and the Congress 15.
The India TV-CVoter poll findings said both the BJP and Congress were neck and neck –29-35 seats – but short of a majority in the 70-member house.
NewsX-MRC said the BJP may get 38 seats and the Congress 30 in Uttarakhand.
A BJP, Congress Fight in Manipur
In Congress-ruled Manipur, the BJP is expected to win 25-31 seats in the 60-member house, as predicted by the India TV-CVoter survey. The Congress may finish second with 17-23 seats.
The IndiaToday-Axis poll, however, showed the Congress winning 30-36 and the BJP 16-22.
Read the developments from Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur as they happened.
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