Even better than 2019 for Modi

Exit polls give a higher tally to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance than it won in the last elections. The BJP is expected to do even better in Uttar Pradesh, and will make significant gains in the South, Odisha and Bengal

With the polling for the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections coming to an end on Saturday, a large number of exit polls have predicted another clean sweep for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Most of the polls have given the alliance between 355 and 370 seats, a number higher than even its 2019 tally of 353.

As for the BJP, these exit polls have predicted that the ruling party would get between 305 and 315 seats, topping its 303 of 2019, as the party has been able to overcome a spirited opposition from the INDIA bloc that is expected to poll less than 200 seats this time.

The exit poll results demonstrate that the effort put in by senior BJP leaders – including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on the last day of voting was meditating at Vivekananda Rock Memorial near Kanyakumari -- in the five southern states and West Bengal and Odisha have helped the NDA repeat and probably even better its performance in the last Lok Sabha polls.

As the dust settles on the nearly two-month campaign that tested the patience and stamina of the leaders in the searing heat, the picture that emerges from the exit polls is that the BJP managed to do well by working closely with its old allies as with Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP in Maharashtra while forging new alliances as with Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.