On 19/5/2019 seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections ended. TV channels came out with their exit polls.
India Today – Axis: NDA 339-365, UPA 77-108, Others 69-95.
Republic TV – C Voter: NDA 287, UPA 128, Others 127.
News18 – IPSOS: NDA 336, UPA 82, Others 124.
Times Now – VMR: NDA 306, UPA 132, Others 104.
Republic Bharat – Jan Ki Baat: NDA 305, UPA 124, Others 113.
NewsX – Neta: NDA 242, UPA 164, Others 135.
ABP News – Nielsen: NDA 267, UPA 127, Others 148.
India TV – CNX: NDA 300, UPA 120, Others 122.
News24 – Chanakya: NDA 350, UPA 95, Others 97.
Others included AAP, BJD, BSP-SP-RLD, Left Front, TMC, TRS, YSRCP and some other parties.
Figures for NDA were 365 highest and 242 lowest.
Figures for UPA were 164 highest and 95 lowest.
Figures for Others were 148 highest and 69 lowest.
Reactions to exit poll figures were predictable. Mamata Banerjee said they were gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. Omar Abdulla said every exit poll can’t be wrong. Chandrababu Naidu said time and again exit polls have failed to catch people’s pulse. Congress members said they will do better than predicted and results on May 23 would surprise the ruling party. Vote share to seat share conversion is a difficult job. There is fear psychosis is the country and people do not reveal their views. BJP members were happy about the figures. Yogendra Yadav said the Congress must die. If it could not stop the BJP in this election to save the idea of India, this party has no role in Indian history.
In 2004 exit polls had predicted NDA victory. Lowest number of seats was 230. As it turned out NDA got 196 seats. BJP got 138 seats, seven less than Congress. Left Front had around 60 seats and SP 36. UPA formed government with the support of Left Front and SP.
On 23/5/2019 counting began at 8 a.m. Three full days gap between voting end and counting. There are 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. Vellore election countermanded as money was used.
Sensex went up beyond 40,000 and then came down and ended lower at 38,811.39 points, 298.92 lower than previous close.
Final tally: NDA 351, UPA 92, Others 99.
Congress lost Muslim votes in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states because it wanted to prove it is more Hindu than BJP. In Madhya Pradesh, National Security Act was applied on Muslims caught for cow smuggling. In Rajasthan, Congress said they spend more money on cows than BJP spent.
AAP did not win any seat in Delhi. BJP won all seven seats. Congress finished second. AAP finished third. AAP had four seats from Punjab in 2014. This time only Bhagwant Mann won. AAP did not win any seat in Chandigarh, Haryana and Goa. Last time it had contested more than 400 seats. Great fall for a party that was seen as an alternative to all other political parties and for Arvind Kejriwal who was spoken as a Prime Ministerial candidate.
BJP tally increased from 282 to 303.
Congress tally increased from 44 to 52.
DMK tally increased from 0 to 23.
JD (U) tally increased from 2 to 16.
BSP tally increased from 0 to 10.
YSRCP tally increased from 9 to 22.
AIADMK tally decreased from 37 to 1.
TMC tally decreased from 34 to 22.
BJD tally decreased from 20 to 12.
TDP tally decreased from 16 to 3.
There were 3,443 independent candidates. One won.
PMK, AINRC, SDF, RLSP, RJD, RLD, JVM (P), HAM, VIP, PDP, PRISM, JSP, JJP, NPP, AIFB, AGP, GGP, UDP and SUCI did not win any seat.
Prime Ministerial ambitions of Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, KCR and others suffered a setback.
There were Legislative Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim and Legislative Assembly voting in 22 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. In Andhra Pradesh YSR Congress won. BJP won in Arunachal Pradesh. BJD won in Odisha. SKM won in Sikkim.
