Mamata Banerjee to stay in West Bengal, Amma and Gagoi may lose their land, Kerala turns Left
Various exit polls have suggested an easy come back for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal while Left will capture power in Kerala. The BJP will gain Assam, the DMK will take Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. Final result will come on May 19.
Two formidable women of Indian politics dominated the day -West Bengal’s Didi, Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu’s Amma, J Jayalalithaa.
All exit polls predicted a BJP win in Assam, giving the party its first government in a north-east state, and a sweeping comeback for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, holding out little hope for the Congress.
Of the four exit polls released for Assam and West Bengal after polling ended, the BJP had a clear majority in three and the TMC in all.
The India Today-Axis polls gave an edge to the DMK with 125 to 140 seats. AIADMK was trailing with 84 to 101 seats.
The News Nation TV exit poll gave 95-99 seats to Jayalalithaa and 114-118 to the DMK-Congress alliance in the state. The People Welfare Front alliance was set to get 14 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) four seats, it said. Nine seats could go to others.
The India Today-Axis exit poll predicted 124-140 seats going to the DMK-Congress alliance, 89-110 to the AIADMK, 0-3 to the BJP and 4-8 to others.
Come May 19, if Jayalalithaa wins, she will become the first CM in decades to return to power. The last person to do so was AIADMK founder and Jayalalithaa’s mentor, MG Ramachandran, in 1984.
If the DMK wins, 91-year-old Karunanidhi will serve his sixth term as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.