Exit polls; BJP set to sweep in Gujarat and HP

(Our Special Correspondent)
The Modi-Shah juggernaut looks unstoppable. The Bharatiya Janata Party will retain Gujarat for a seventh consecutive term and will win an unprecedented second term in Himachal Pradesh, according to exit poll data released Monday evening.
The Congress has to settle for a distant second in both elections and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, yet again fails to pose a serious challenge to the ruling BJP in the two states – and flopped.
The BJP is set to retain both the states – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh – yet again with a comfortable mandate. Almost all major pollsters projected the BJP is winning anywhere between 125 to 145 seats out of a total 182-member assembly in Gujarat, while in Himachal Pradesh 30-39 of the 68-member assemblyIn Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh, where elections were held on December 1 and 5 poll results will be announced on December 8.
Only Axis My India among the five poll surveys has projected the Congress having an edge over the BJP in Himachal. According to the India Today-Axis My India poll, BJP could end up between 24-34 seats in Himachal Pradesh while the Congress could finish higher in the range of 30-40 seats. The poll also predicted 4-8 seats for others. The prediction suggests that an extremely close contest is on the cards where the final verdict could swing either way. The first projections by Republic and Times Now, on the other hand, have predicted that BJP will retain power in Himachal Pradesh.
Interestingly, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP), which has created hype in the media, is not reflected in the pollster’s projections. In both states, the AAP is going to an upstart, though it might have cut into the Congress vote bank, hurting the latter most. In other words, the BJP appears to be repeating its feat of retaining power in all four out of five state assemblies gone to polls, not so long ago. Yes, the BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. In that polls, AAP indeed created a history of sorts by sweeping polls in Punjab, by throwing out the Congress from yet another state.
What is more significant is that the BJP retained power in Gujarat for the sixth time being in power for the last 27-long years.
Despite the best efforts of AAP, in its bid to expand its base by assuring the electorate of replicating the Delhi model of ‘good governance (appeasement policies like ‘free power’ and ‘free water’) against the so-called Gujarat model of ‘Vikaas’ (development) appears to receive a drubbing, if one has to believe the exit polls.
Yet, there is some consolation for the AAP in the form of sweeping the MCD polls in New Delhi. Kejriwal’s outfit is expected to win comfortably. The BJP – which won in 2017 – is in the second position. And Congress is getting almost eliminated.