India’s exit polls show a majority for Modi’s BJP-led alliance in election

A summary of exit polls project the NDA could win between 355 and 380 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance is projected to win an emphatic majority in the general election, TV exit polls say, suggesting the right-wing party would do better than expected by most analysts.

Most exit polls on Saturday projected the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 is needed for a simple majority.

A summary of six exit polls projected the NDA could win between 355 and 380 seats, a number that is likely to boost financial markets when they reopen on Monday.

The NDA won 353 seats in the 2019 general election, of which BJP accounted for 303.

The six exit polls that gave the BJP-led NDA a clear majority are: Republic Bharat-P Marq (359), India News-D-Dyanamics (371), Republic Bharat-Matrize (353-368) Dainik Bhaskar (281-350), News Nation (342-378), and Jan Ki Baat (362-392), according to a report in India’s NDTV network.

Another exit poll from broadcaster CNN-News18 forecast the BJP and its coalition allies to win 355 seats.

The opposition INDIA alliance led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party was projected to win more than 120 seats, according to the surveys that were broadcast after six weeks of voting concluded on Saturday.

Exit polls, which are conducted by polling agencies, have a patchy record in India as they have often got the outcome wrong, with analysts saying it is a challenge to get them right in the large and diverse country.

The opposition dismissed the exit polls, and before their publication, called them “prefixed” following a meeting at the