Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 30 : Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday exuded confidence in the BJP's performance in the upcoming Assembly polls result on May 4, stating that the party does not take exit polls "so seriously."
Speaking to reporters as the assembly elections concluded a day earlier, Goyal emphasised that the party places its "full faith in the people of India" rather than in preliminary projections.
"We do not take exit polls so seriously. We have full faith in the people of India. Just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the country to new heights in the last 12 years, the people of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu also do not want to be deprived of it. A BJP government is going to be formed in West Bengal and an NDA government in Tamil Nadu. BJP, NDA government will be formed once again in Assam and Puducherry and in Kerala too, we are confident that we will start our journey ahead from this election," he said.
This comes after exit polls on Wednesday projected that the BJP-led NDA was poised to win Assam and the Congress-led UDF Keralam with the most surveys also stating that the BJP is on its way to form its first government in West Bengal.
The surveys predicted that the DMK-led alliance would again return to power in Tamil Nadu, but Axis My India projected that actor-turned politician Vijay's TVK is set for a blockbuster performance in the southern state and is poised to get as much vote share as DMK in its debut election.
In Puducherry, the exit polls projected the NR Congress-led alliance returning to power. Exit poll numbers projected an interesting tussle in West Bengal, with the BJP ahead in most of the projections.
Matrize predicted BJP getting 146-161 seats in West Bengal, TMC 125-140 seats and others 6-10 seats. JVC projected that BJP would get 138-159 seats, the Trinamool Congress 131-152 seats, Congress 0-2 seats, Left parties 0-1 seat and others 0-1 seat. P-Marq exit poll projected 150-175 seats for BJP, 118-138 for Trinamool Congress and 2-6 for others. People Pulse projected 95-100 seats for BJP, 177-187 seats for Trinamool Congress, 1-3 seats for Congress and 0-1 seat for Left parties. Poll Diary exit poll projected 142-147 seats for BJP, 99-127 for Trinamool Congress, 3-5 for Congress, 2-3 for Left parties and 0-1 for others.
In Tamil Nadu, Axis My India exit poll projected that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) would get 98-120 seats in its debut election, DMK-led alliance 92-100 seats and the five-party alliance led by BJP getting 22-32 seats.
According to Axis My India, Vijay is ahead of Chief Minister MK Stalin in terms of choice for the next Chief Minister. While Stalin was supported by 35 per cent of those polled, Vijay got the support of 37 per cent.
Several other exit polls predicted that the alliance led by the ruling DMK will return to power in the state.
People Pulse projected 125-145 seats for the DMK-led alliance and AIADMK-led alliance, which includes the BJP, getting 65-80 seats. It projected Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) getting two to six seats. Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly seats.
According to exit poll projections by Matrize, DMK and allies will get 122-132 seats and AIADMK and allies 80-100 seats. It said TVK would get 0-6 assembly seats.
The exit poll by P-MARQ projected 125-145 seats for DMK-led alliance, 60-70 seats for AIADMK-led alliance and one to six seats for TVK.
People Insight projected 120-140 seats for DMK-led alliance, 60-70 for AIADMK-led alliance and 30-40 seats for TVK.
In Keralam, exit polls projected that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is poised to unseat the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), bringing its 10-year rule in the state to an end.
The results would be declared on May 4.