oppn parties Exit Polls: Popularity Going Down, But BJP Holds Its Own

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Exit Polls: Popularity Going Down, But BJP Holds Its Own

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-03-08 01:47:45

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

Although exit polls are known to get it wrong many times, since India now has nearly a dozen pollsters who carry out the exercise, a general trend can be deciphered from the predictions made by them. The exit polls for the 2022 'mini elections' in five states show that although the BJP is facing a reduction in popularity in most states, it is still managing to hold its own mainly due to the woeful state of the opposition and the strength of its election machinery.

The polls predict that the BJP will retain power in Uttar Pradesh but there will be a big reduction in seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) will be the big gainer in the state but, as the polls show, it could not make the final push to unseat the Yogi Adityanath government. If he manages to retain power in UP, Yogi Adityanath's stature will grow manifold in the party. The Congress has been further decimated in the state and the BSP has been left by the wayside. Both the BJP and the SP have gained votes at their expense.

AAP is poised to get a landslide win in Punjab, laying to rest the fears about a hung assembly. The Congress seems to have lost the confidence of the people due to the infighting in the state unit and the rebellious attitude of Navjot Singh Sidhu. The farmers unions, who floated the Samyukta Samaj Morcha for their political debut, have also failed to make an impact proving that people's movements do not always translate into political support.

Elsewhere, in Uttarakhand and Goa, the polls say the contest is too close to call with both the Congress and the BJP equally placed in a hung assembly. In Goa, it will once again lead to a situation like the one in 2017 when small regional players, and this time even the Trinamool Congress, might emerge as kingmakers. In Manipur, the BJP is likely to form the government as the Congress has fallen way behind. 

lead picture courtesy: ndtv.com