The Hindu : National : Exit polls predict a hung House for U.P.

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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
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Exit polls predict a hung House for U.P.

"BSP to be the single largest party"

NEW DELHI: As the curtains came down on the staggered Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, two exit polls on Tuesday projected a hung House with the Mayawati-led BSP emerging as the single largest party.

The ruling Samajwadi Party is seen recovering some ground pushing the BJP to the third spot.

The surveys have projected only a marginal improvement in the Congress' position despite the vigorous campaign undertaken by Rahul Gandhi.

Impressive show

The SP's strong comeback, after trailing the BJP in most exit polls earlier, was largely due to its impressive show in the polling for 59 constituencies on Tuesday, with most projections showing it on top.

According to the Star News-Nielsen exit poll, the SP may end up with 96 seats in the 402-seat Assembly while the main Opposition BSP would be the single largest party with 137 seats.

It said the BJP might end up with 108 seats, with the Congress way behind at 27, a marginal increase compared to its tally of 25 in the 2002 elections.

The exit poll conducted by CNN-IBN and Indian Express projected that the BSP would end up with a share of 152-168 seats followed by the SP with 99-111 seats and the BJP ending at the third spot with 80-90 seats.

The seat projection for the Congress was put by this survey at between 21 and 27.

Improves position

Both surveys said the SP improved its position in the last phase, which was completed on Tuesday.

While the Star News exit poll put the vote share for the BSP at 26.2 per cent and a swing of 3.2 per cent, the CNN-IBN survey showed a vote share of 29 per cent and a swing of six per cent for the party.

The surveys put the vote share for the Congress at between 10.3 and 11 per cent.

An exit poll conducted by NDTV after the last phase of voting showed that the BSP continued to maintain the lead, followed closely by the SP and the BJP.

It predicted 117-127 seats for the BSP, 113-123 for the SP, 108-118 for the BJP and 35-45 for the Congress.

Another survey by India TV and C-Voter projected that the BSP would get around 124-140 seats followed closely by the SP with 106-122 seats.

The survey projected 92-108 seats for the BJP and 22-38 for the Congress.

PTI

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