Exit polls give split verdict

Two different exit polls on the first phase of assembly elections in Karnataka held on Saturday gave a split verdict.

If the exit poll conducted by market research group C-Fore for Suvarna News showed Congress securing 39-42 seats against the BJP’s 24-27 and the JD (S) 20-23, the exit poll conducted by IMRB for NDTV put BJP on top with 31 seats closely followed by JD (S) with 30 seats and Congress securing 23 seats.

Both the market research groups carried out an exit poll on the 89 assembly constituencies, which went to polls in Karnataka on Saturday.

According C-fore findings for Suvarna News, a channel belonging to Asianet group, the result of the exit polls for 28 seats in Bangalore showed Congress and BJP securing an almost identical number of seats with each party bagging 13-14 seats. The JD (S) was shown to be winning in one seat while the remaining one seat went to others.

In the rest of the state, which went to polls on Saturday, Congress was predicted to win between 26-18 seats while the BJP was expected to win 11-13 seats. The JD (S) was shown to be winning in 20-22 seats.

But, the exit polls conducted by IMRB for NDTV showed the saffron party winning 14 out of the 28 seats in Bangalore, leaving 10 seats for the Congress. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s JD (S) came a distant third with just four seats.

According to IMRB’s findings for the rest of Karnataka, BJP was winning 17 seats against the Congress party’s 13. The JD (S) was predicted to win 26 seats.

However, notwithstanding the outcome of the exit polls, which clearly indicates that the ensuing assembly elections will once again throw up a hung assembly, all the three major political parties are claiming that they will secure a majority and form a Government on their own.