UP elections exit polls 2017: Modi wave intact, BJP will cross magic number

The results of Uttar Pradesh exit poll by Times Now-VMR have confirmed the widespread feeling that the voter sentiment is still in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP is likely to win 190 to 210 seats, SP-Congress 110 to 130 and BSP 57 to 74 seats, according to the exit poll.

The BJP has cornered 33.5% vote share while its closest rival Samajwadi Party(SP)-Congress alliance has got just 27%. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has got 14.65% vote share.

Uttar Pradesh, the most important of the five states that went to polls, going to the BJP means Prime Minister Narendra Modi has retained huge popular support even though demonetisation was seen to be denting his popularity.

What Exit Polls 2017 say:

Since PM Modi himself spearheaded the party campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP victory will put a final stamp on the popularity of PM Modi and the approval of his policies—especially demonetisation—by the masses. The image boost will launch a massive wind in his favour for the next Lok Sabha elections.

PM Modi will be able to increase the number of BJP MPs in the Rajya Sabha where his party is in minority and faces hurdles in passing legislations. A majority in Rajya Sabha will ensure smooth rollout of Modi's reform agenda which has faced stiff opposition in Rajya Sabha so far.

Amit Shah's much talked-about caste engineering in which the BJP countered an alliance of non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits against Samajwadi Party's Yadav vote bank and Bahujan Samajwadi Party's Jatav vote bank has seemed to have worked.