BJP upbeat in Assam after exit polls indicate NDA win

GUWAHATI: The saffron party is in an upbeat mood in Assam after exit polls predicted on Sunday that the BJP-led NDA would return to power. If the exit poll results match the actual results on Thursday, the party's poll jingle, 'Ako Abar Modi Sarkar (Modi government once again)' would become a reality.
"BJP will do significantly well in Assam as in the rest of the state as has been reflected in the exit polls. We are confident the mandate would be for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives in steering the country towards a path of progress and development," said chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi.
Different exit polls have given the projection that the NDA would get 17 to 19 seats in the northeast and Congress four to six seats in the region which has 24 parliamentary seats, excluding Sikkim. Assam has the highest-14 parliamentary seats-and exit polls have projected that BJP and its allies is likely to win in seven to 10 seats, while Congress is likely to get between three to six seats. But more than the projections for the state, the BJP camp is euphoric over the projections of the return of the NDA at the Centre.
"My assessment is that NDA will have 310 to 315 seats, with BJP alone getting about 272 seats at the national-level. In Assam, my projection is that BJP and its constituents in NEDA, will together get between nine and 11 seats," health minister and NEDA convener, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said.
BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the exit polls reiterated the faith of the electorate in Modi as a PM.
Congress, however, is taking the predictions with a pinch of salt, saying that projections have gone wrong in the past. Congress fought the Lok Sabha polls by making the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill its election plank. It tried to tap the growing resentment of the electorate against the bill. The bill triggered a volley of protests in the state and among NDA partners across the region.
"We cannot fully trust exit polls. The glaring example is of 2004, when NDA was projected as a winner with a huge mandate. But that didn't happen," state Congress president Ripun Bora said.
Congress legislator and former minister, Rockybul Hussain said the exit polls did not reflect the ground reality that a large section of the electorate across the country had voted against the wrong policies of the BJP government. "The poll results were more to confuse and demoralize opposition workers and party agents at the grass-roots. But they will tide over this attempt to demoralize them before counting begins," Hussain said.
Perfume baron-turned politician Badruddin Ajmal's All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) said the lopsidedness of the exit polls became apparent when many of the agencies did not take into account AIUDF at all. "In 2014, many exit polls showed AIUDF drawing a blank, but we went on to win three seats. This time too they have not taken into account AIUDF. We cannot trust the predictions at all," said AIUDF general secretary, Aminul Islam.
This time, AIUDF contested in only three seats with Ajmal seeking re-election from Dhubri. Islam said out of the three, AIUDF is certain of winning two.