The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has predicted a massive victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, with the alliance expected to win 98-120 seats out of the total 175. The NDA, comprising the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), is poised to make a strong comeback in the state.
While all national level exit polls were announced on Saturday, the first such poll on AP Assembly polls was announced on Sunday. It says that the TDP is likely to emerge as the single largest party, securing 78-96 seats, while the BJP is expected to win 4-6 constituencies and the JSP is projected to win 16-18 seats.
The ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, is expected to secure between 55 and 77 seats, a significant decline from its tally of 151 in the 2019 polls. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll is based on 5.8 lakh interviews conducted in all 543 parliamentary constituencies
The INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, is predicted to draw a blank or win at most two seats. The exit poll results suggest that the NDA will gain 85 more seats compared to the 2019 polls, while the YSRCP’s seat count will decline.
Notably, the TDP was not a part of the NDA in 2019, and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s JSP was a new entrant. In terms of vote share, the NDA is expected to gain 5 per cent, while the INDIA bloc is predicted to see a marginal increase of 1 per cent. The YSRCP’s vote share is forecast to shrink by 6 per cent.