Akhilesh Yadav confident of victory even as exit polls predict BJP return

With exit polls
predicting a win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh,
Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party, the principal opposition party
in India’s biggest state, exuded confidence that his party will win with a
majority. “Let them show whatever they have got. We are winning with a
majority,” Yadav said.

All exit polls show
BJP securing a comfortable majority in Uttar Pradesh. Exit polls, however, have
often been proved wrong. A case in point, the 2017 Assembly polls, where nearly
all exit polls got the numbers wrong.

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Prior to the exit
polls going live, Akhilesh Yadav said, the SP-led alliance will form the next government
in Uttar Pradesh with over 300 seats. Uttar Pradesh has 403 seats in its
Assembly. A party or coalition needs 202 seats to secure a majority and form
the government.

CNN predicts BJP
winning 262-277 seats, SP 119-134 seats, BSP 7-15 seats and Congress 3-6 seats.
NewsX predicts BJP winning 211-225 seats, SP 146-160 seats, BSP 14-24 seats and
Congress 4-6 seats. ETG Research predicts 230-245 seats for BJP, 150-165 seats
for SP, 5-10 seats for BSP and 2-6 seats for Congress. Republic TV has
predicted 240 seats for the BJP, 140 seats for SP, 17 seats for BSP and 4 seats
for Congress.

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The Opoyi Poll of Polls predicts
221-243 seats going to the BJP, 140 to 160 seats to the SP, 9-16 seats to the BSP
and 3-6 seats to Congress. Opoyi’s exit poll of polls constructs an average of state exit polls by averaging out the mid point and range outcomes predicted across all published exit polls.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi
Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son and leader of Bihar’s RJD, predicted a
resounding victory for the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Bihar leader
of the opposition shares ideological affinity as well as family ties with the
former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, to whose nephew his younger sister is
married.

“I think it is a
one-sided contest in Uttar Pradesh. The people have decided to vote out Yogi
Adityanath and the BJP and bring back Akhilesh Yadav and SP”, Yadav told
reporters when asked about the keenly watched elections in the adjoining state.