Jammu/Srinagar: Most of the exit polls predicted that the Congress-NC alliance has an advantage in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir but the BJP remained hopeful of forming the government in the Union territory.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, however, described the exit polls as “just time pass” even though the results are in favour of his party.
“I’m amazed channels are bothering with exit polls especially after the fiasco of the recent general elections. I’m ignoring all the noise on channels, social media, WhatsApp etc. because the only numbers that matter will be revealed on the 8th of Oct. The rest is just time pass,” Abdullah, a former chief minister, wrote on X.
Several exit polls gave an edge to the NC-Congress alliance and predicted that the regional party could emerge as the single-largest party in J&K.
Reacting to the exit poll predictions, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina said his party contested the assembly polls with all its strength.
“We are confident that BJP will emerge as the single largest party when the results are out on October 8,” he said.
Raina said the BJP leadership that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda campaigned for the party and got tremendous support from the people.
“BJP will emerge victorious on October 8 and will start working on the formation of the government. We fought the elections on our own strength. Our target is to win the elections with the blessings of the people and we will achieve splendid victory,” he said.
J&K Congress president Tair Hameed Karra said the Congress-NC alliance is in a comfortable position to form the next government in the Union territory.
“This election was primarily to keep the BJP out of the power corridors, restoration of statehood along with land and job guarantees. I am seeing the (Congress-NC) alliance in a comfortable position to form the government,” Karra said.
He said the mandate of the people is formation of the government against “divisive forces and hatemongers”.
“People voted for redressal of their genuine grievances as they suffered a lot over the past 10 years with the top echelons of power both in the Raj Bhavan and Civil Secretariat working like kings. The BJP needs to explain to the people what they have done in the past 10 years,” Karra said.
He said the BJP has no moral right to accuse the NC and Congress of reviving terrorism and said, “Everyone knows that terrorism shifted from Kashmir to the peaceful Jammu region. Only the goal post has changed in the past 10 years.”
The Congress-NC alliance will get more than 55 seats, party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir claimed.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have voted to change the last 10 years of BJP rule. Whatever the exit polls show, our belief is that the vote was for change, for keeping the BJP out in both regions (Kashmir and Jammu),” Mir told PTI Videos here.
He asserted the Congress-NC alliance would get more than 55 seats when the results are announced.
Mir said the Congress-NC tie-up is the “only viable alliance” between a national party and a regional outfit in Jammu and Kashmir that will “take the people out of their miseries”.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the exit polls were not reliable and it was too premature to talk about government formation.
“We have seen that exit polls are not reliable. What matters are the numbers that will come at the end of counting,” senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said.
Asked if the PDP will support the NC-Congress coalition if need be, Akhtar said it was premature to comment on that.
“They might not even need our support. Finally, a decision on this matter will be taken by the party. All said and done, we are still part of the INDIA bloc. We have not gone anywhere,” he added.
The C-Voter-India Today survey predicted 40-48 seats for the NC-Congress alliance and put the BJP at 27-32 seats in the 90-member J&K assembly.
Dainik Bhaskar pegged the NC-Congress alliance at 35-40 and the BJP at 20-25.
Peoples’ Pulse saw the NC-Congress alliance with 46-50 seats as against the BJP’s 23-27, while Republic-Gulistan put the the NC-Congress tally lower at 31-36 as against the BJP’s 28-30.
In different polls, the PDP was seen winning between 5 and 12 seats, while other candidates were also seen bagging 4-16 seats.
The results of the assembly elections will be announced on October 8.
Meanwhile, several exit polls today also predicted a clear majority for the Congress in Haryana.
‘Dainik Bhaskar’ predicted the Congress getting 44-54 seats and the BJP 15-29 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly. The Republic-Matrize poll put the Congress tally even higher at 55-62 seats as against the BJP’s 18-24.
The Red Mike-Datansh exit poll gave the Congress 50-55 seats in Haryana and the BJP at 20-25, while Dhruv Research pegged the Congress at 50-64 and the BJP 22-32.
Peoples’ Pulse exit poll gave the Congress 49-60 seats and the BJP 20-32 seats in Haryana.
Most exit polls pegged INLD tally higher than that of the JJP, while others were seen getting up to 10 seats. (With inputs from PTI)
Random exit poll
As different TV channels have started coming up with their exit poll results, once the Haryana assembly election was over, most of the predictions put the NC-INC coalition ahead of others with a question mark of whether their being ahead, would ensure government formation.
Gulistan News, a much watched TV channel in Kashmir, has projected 28-30 each for NC and BJP, 03-06 for INC, 05-07 for PDP and 08-16 for others.
One wonders how the channel displayed these figures. 28-30 or 03-06 0r 05-07 sounds mathematically reasonable but 08-16 for others defies all logic.
However, our exit poll, with limited resources, have some different results.
Baramulla: A tight contest between Javed Beig of NC and independent candidate Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Javed has a slight edge.
Uri: Very tight between Sajad Uri of NC and Taj Mohiudin (Ind)
Rafiabad: Tight contest between NC and AP, NC has slight edge.
Wagoora-Kreeri: Again tight contest between INC and PDP, INC may spring a surprise.
Sopore: Too tight between Irshad Kar of NC and Abdul Rashid of INC.
Pattan: Though Imran Ansari of PC has an edge, NC is too close.
Gulmarg: Triangular contest between NC, PDP, AP, slight edge to NC.
Langate: Very interesting, Er Rashid’s home constituency but PC is in tight fight, results can go either way.
Handwara: Sajad Lone, by all indications, seems winner.
Lolab: Very tight between NC and PDP, with NC having slight edge.
Karnah: Again a tough fight with JKPC having slight edge.
Trehgam: Too tight between NC and PC, very difficult to predict.
Bandipora: Independent candidate, Usman Majid seems sailing through but NC-INC candidate Nizamudin Bhat too has some potential.
Sonawari: Akbar Lone’s son is doing well but AIP candidate, Yasir Reshi too is going to give a tough fight.
Gurez: It has a tough contest between NC and BJP with NC having slight edge.
From south Kashmir, analysts say that PDP will get 5-6 seats, NC 7-8, Cong 01 and CPIM 01.
