"Will form govt with absolute majority": BJP trashes exit-poll projections for Chhattisgarh

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 30 : The BJP on Thursday was dismissive of the exit-poll projections for Chhattisgarh and exuded confidence in the party wresting the state from the Congress.
Most exit polls earlier put the Congress in a clear lead in the state while also projecting the BJP to give a close fight to the incumbent, unlike in the last Assembly polls in 2018.
While three polls predicted a clear victory of Congress, others said that the party was in the winning range. The Congress fought the election with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at the helm.
Reacting to the numbers quoted by the pollsters, BJP leader Santosh Pandey told ANI on Thursday, "Rest assured that the BJP will form the government with an absolute majority in the state. The counting of votes on December 3 will put all speculations at rest."
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader, TS Singh Deo, put the Congress's tally at about 60 seats.
"We are happy to note that the exit polls have given a clear edge to the Congress in Chhattisgarh. I believe that we will get about 60 seats. The decision on who will be chief minister will be taken by the Congress high command. We will accept whatever the high command decides," Singh Deo said.
According to ABP C-Voter predictions, Congress is poised to win 41-53 seats in the state which has a 90-member assembly. The exit poll said BJP is poised to get 36-48 seats and others 0-4 seats.
The India Today-Axis My India poll predicted Congress getting 40-50 seats, BJP 36-46 seats and others getting 1-5 seats.
The Republic TV exit poll gave Congress 44-52 seats, BJP 34-42 seats and 0-2 polls for others.
India TV-CNX poll predicted 46- 56 seats for Congress, 30-40 seats for BJP and 3-5 for others. The numbers for Congress and BJP in the Jan Ki Baat exit poll were 42-53 and 34-45 respectively and it predicted 0-3 seats for others.
The P-Marq poll said Congress is poised to win 46-54 seats with 44.6 per cent vote, BJP 35-42 seats with 42.9 per cent vote and others will get 0-2 seats with 12.5 per cent votes.
The poll done by Today's Chanakya predicted that Congress will get 57-66 seats in Chhattisgarh with BJP getting 33-42 seats with 0-3 seats going to the others.
Chhattisgarh went to the polls in two phases on November 7 and 17 and the counting of votes, along with that in the other four states, will take place on December 3.
The exit poll predictions came after polling concluded in Telangana, the last of the five states that went to polls this month.
In 2018, the Congress won 68 seats in Chhattisgarh and the BJP won 15 seats. Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) won five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party won two seats.