J&K may throw up hung assembly, BJP to get majority in Jharkhand: Exit polls

NEW DELHI: Exit polls on Saturday predicted a near complete victory for the BJP and its alliance in Jharkhand and a hung Assembly with upper hand for the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir. Soon after polling concluded for the fifth and final phase with record turnouts (76% turnout in the last phase in J&K; 66% overall), most private news channels published varied exit polls for both states that revealed a broad pattern of results that could be expected on December 23, the counting day.

While both the C Voter poll for News X and Axis-APM for CNN-IBN predicted a huge jump in vote share and number of seats for Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led People’s Democratic Party in J&K, the BJP’s expected rise was not enough to form a government on its own, though that party will emerge as the second largest party. The CSDS’ poll on perception of voter preference for the post of J&K CM was topped by PDP’s Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at 34%.