Edge to BJP in Jharkhand with INDIA bloc giving tough fight, predict exit polls

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to win the Jharkhand Assembly elections with a tough fight given by Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his INDIA bloc allies — Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), according to three exit polls.
An average of three exit polls shows that the NDA is likely to secure 45 seats, a little above the halfway mark of 42 seats. The average prediction for the INDIA bloc stood at 33.
Health Warning: Exit polls are not always accurate.
According to the Matrize exit poll, the NDA is likely to get between 42 – 47 seats while the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led INDIA bloc is expected to win around 25 – 30 with others clinching between one and four seats in the tribal states.
In Jharkhand, the halfway mark is 42 seats.
Times Now-JVC has also predicted a clean sweep for the NDA in Jharkhand, giving the alliance 40 – 44 seats. For the INDIA bloc, it has given between 30 – 40 seats.
Chanakya has also forecast a comfortable win for the NDA, which mostly banked on infiltration issues and corruption during its poll campaigning. The exit poll predicted that the NDA is likely to win 45 – 50 seats, while the INDIA bloc may fall short with 35 – 38 seats. Other parties, the exit poll predicted, would win three to five seats.
Meanwhile, another pollster CVoter, giving predictions on 61 seats, forecast 34 seats for the NDA, 26 for the INDIA bloc and one for other parties. The pollster said that the remaining 20 seats were too close to call.
Jharkhand voted in the second and last phase of Assembly elections on Wednesday with the JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) coalition striving to retain the Soren stronghold even as the NDA aims to seize control and shift the political dynamics in the tribal state.
The BJP fielded candidates in 68 constituencies, with its allies — the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) — contesting 10, 2, and 1 seats, respectively.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s JMM contested 41 seats. Its partners, the Congress, RJD, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), contested 30, 6, and 4 seats, respectively.