LIVE TABLE: TMC SET TO RETAIN WEST BENGAL – EXIT POLL RESULTS

Initial trends from exit polls suggest that the Trinamool Congress will retain West Bengal with around 165-170 seats, while the BJP will be just over the 100 seat mark.

The first two results are from P-MARQ and ETG Research.

Other results are expected to come out in the next few minutes for state assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, as well as the union territory of Puducherry.

The following table gives an upto date glance at the exit poll results published by various media houses for the assembly elections.

The live table will be updated every couple of minutes as more and more exit poll numbers come in. Please refresh the page to see the latest results.

PARTYINDIA TODAYABPREPUBLICP-MARQETG
KERALA (140)LDF1127476
KERALA (140)UDF286561
KERALA (140)NDA113
ASSAM (126)AIUDF+CONG4559
ASSAM (126)NDA806479
TAMIL NADU (234)AIADMK+BJP466463
TAMIL NADU (234)DMK+CONG185166165
TAMIL NADU (234)OTHER
W BENGAL (292)TMC143158133162171
W BENGAL (292)BJP147115143122110
W BENGAL (292)LEFT+CONG120161512

Assembly polls were held over a period of five weeks from late March through late April in four states and the union territory of Puducherry.

While elections were carried out over eight phases in West Bengal, it was carried out at one go in states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The results are crucial for the Congress Party in Kerala as the state is one of the last remaining areas in which it remains a viable player.

Meanwhile, the fight in Bengal is a prestige issue for the BJP, as the party has not had much luck in expanding its base beyond its traditional strongholds in the last several years.

The Congress is expecting to do well in Assam due to both an anti-incumbency factor as well as its alliance with AIUDF, a party that focuses on representing the interests of the state’s Muslims.

The highest number of constituencies are in West Bengal, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam.

Exit polls are only to be taken as an indicator of where the wind is blowing, and can often turn out to be wrong — especially when the wind blows in an unexpected direction. They have proven themselves to be extremely unreliable in predicting the outcome when it comes to upsets and unexpected movements in vote share, or where the difference in vote shares is too narrow.

Exit polls have also typically shown a ‘conservative bias’ and tend to favor bigger parties and those in power.