A HEAD START IN THE POLL RACE
India Today|April 01, 2024
The world’s largest democratic exercise and one critical question— who’ll win how many seats? The India Today Conclave invited some of the country’s top psephologi sts to answer the million-dollar question and, no surprises, they all veered to the view that the BJP had the upper hand even before a vote was polled.
A HEAD START IN THE POLL RACE

With that marker in mind, the pollsters had divided the states into three groups extrapolating from the 2019 results—those where the saffron party seats had reached nearsaturation with little to gain, those where they won 60-80 per cent of the seats and seeking more gains, and the 100-odd seats in the south and east where their strike rate was 10 per cent or less.

So, is Election 2024 only about whether the BJP peaks at 300-plus seats? AxisMyIndia’s Pradeep Gupta refused to call the 2024 Lok Sabha polls a “done deal” but in the same breath mentioned that the NDA will be trying to improve their tally to get closer to the 400-seat mark. The BJP’s G.V.L. Narasimha Rao described the coming election as something that has not happened in many decades. He felt the debate had moved on from a hung house or single-party majority to whether the BJP can take their tally to 325 or 350. Rao’s personal prediction was 404 seats for the NDA. CVoter’s Yashwant Deshmukh kept his forecast to a taciturn 335, saying anything above that will depend on the returns from the “mergers and acquisitions”. Again, political strategist Amitabh Tiwari believed the 400 mount was scalable.

This story is from the April 01, 2024 edition of India Today.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 01, 2024 edition of India Today.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM INDIA TODAYView All
THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS
India Today

THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS

A TRIBE OF YOUNG, EDUCATED INTERNET WARRIORS IS SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION WITH CURATED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 10, 2024
Scoring a Century
India Today

Scoring a Century

Manoj Bajpayee has just acted in his 100th project-Bhaiyya Ji

time-read
1 min  |
June 10, 2024
FRAGMENTED RUINS
India Today

FRAGMENTED RUINS

A new exhibition at Gallery XXL, Mumbai juxtaposes the artworks of an Indian and a Spanish artist

time-read
2 mins  |
June 10, 2024
United by Art
India Today

United by Art

Moments in Collapse, SAHMAT's group exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi brings together artworks with politically charged themes

time-read
2 mins  |
June 10, 2024
In Her Mother's Voice
India Today

In Her Mother's Voice

Vidya Vox's exuberant new EP, Sundari, is primarily in Tamil as a tribute to her mother

time-read
2 mins  |
June 10, 2024
"MURDER, HE WROTE"
India Today

"MURDER, HE WROTE"

Ashutosh Rana and Vijay Raaz shine in JioCinema's Murder in Mahim, a web series based on Jerry Pinto's layered crime novel

time-read
3 mins  |
June 10, 2024
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS
India Today

FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS

Gujarat sees another major tragedy as businesses flout safety norms and officials look away. This time it's 33 lives lost in a blaze at a gaming zone

time-read
3 mins  |
June 10, 2024
THWARTED FRANCHISE
India Today

THWARTED FRANCHISE

Robertsganj, on the southeastern tip of Uttar Pradesh, is a study in how a coalition of other castes often defeats the aspirations of the majority caste among Dalits-in constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes

time-read
9 mins  |
June 10, 2024
THE LAST FRONTIER
India Today

THE LAST FRONTIER

PURVANCHAL HOSTS THE BIGGEST STAR CANDIDATE IN INDIA: NARENDRA MODI IN VARANASI. THAT MAY BE A NO-CONTEST, BUT CRAFTY CASTE PLAY BY THE SP-CONGRESS POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE OTHER DOZEN SEATS

time-read
5 mins  |
June 10, 2024
THE FIGHT FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL
India Today

THE FIGHT FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL

Leading the campaign as non-playing captains or taking the electoral field themselves, a whole range of political players exemplify the churn that Punjab's politics is going through

time-read
10 mins  |
June 10, 2024