Exit polls for the Goa elections have indicated a hung assembly in the state. Multiple exit polls released after the final phase of voting ended in Uttar Pradesh on Monday indicated a close fight between the ruling BJP and Congress. 

OPOYI Poll of Polls suggests the BJP will win in about 15-18 seats, whereas Congress is said to get about 14-18 seats. Mamata Banerjee’s TMC is expected to secure 2-4 seats in Goa.

Also Read | Goa elections 2022: 5 key battles to watch out for

One of the key issues heading into the polls have been BJP’s handling of casinos, which were supposed to be shut down, but were rather favoured, people feel. Most Goans see them as dens of corruption which mostly employ non-Goans. On top of that, there have been calls from the opposition to stymie any and all corruption in the state. The controversy over whether Konkani, Marathi, or English should be the primary mode of instruction in schools, is also a factor in the Goa 2022 assembly elections and is a reflector of a state attempting to protect its cultural heritage. 

With mining as another key issue, the town of Sanquelim has been one of the hotly contested constituencies in Goa. The sitting Chief Minister of the state, Pramod Sawant has gone up against Congress’ Dharmesh Sanglani, the head of the Sanquelim Municipal Council. 

What are exit polls?

An exit poll is a post-voting exercise, carried out by independent agencies, immediately after voters leave the polling stations. Usually, they are carried out by private entities, in collaboration with a newspaper or broadcaster.

While sampling remains the most popular method of conducting exit poll surveys, they can be systemic or random. In the case of random sampling, the survey targets the entire electorate, irrespective of parameters like age, religion. However, systemic sampling helps narrow this down for more precise results. 

Also Read | Goa votes for 40 seats: Big politics in India’s smallest state

On February 14, Goa and Uttarakhand, two of the five states that voted, held a single phase of voting. In Uttarakhand, there are 70 seats in the Assembly, compared to 40 in Goa.

The elections in Uttar Pradesh were scheduled to take place in seven phases for 403 seats. The election for 349 seats was conducted in six phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3, while the last phase, covering 54 seats, is being held today.

On February 20, Punjab held its elections in a single phase. There were two phases of voting in the hill state of Manipur – on February 28 and March 5.

The results for Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will be announced on March 10, 2022.