EXIT Polls show BJP-SAD leading in Punjab elections

New Delhi, Feb 13 (UNI) As voting in a fiercely fought and bitterly contested elections in Punjab ended, Exit Polls by two television channels predicted a majority for the BJP- SAD combine, while another channel showed that elections were evenly poised for the Congress and its main rivals.

In a house of 115 seats, an NDTV Exit Poll showed that the Akali Dal- BJP combine will get 55 to 65 seats, while the Congress is slated to get 45 to 55 seats. The remaining 5 to 10 seats could go to others like the CPI, other factions of the Akali Dal and Independents.

"The Congress government could end up with less seats than the Akali Dal," said the NDTV Poll, which took the opinion of 47.000 people--the largest exit poll to the Assembly election.

The final results will be known on February 27, when counting of votes takes place.

The Star News Exit Poll gave 60 seats to BJP plus SAD with a vote share of 41 per cent and the Congress 48 seats with a vote share of 37 per cent. Others are slated for seven seats with a vote share of 22 per cent.

The STAR News Poll was based on a survey of 15,000 people across 50 constituencies in the State.

The CNN-IBN exit poll gave between 50 to 60 seats each to SAD-BJP combine and Congress.

The other details of this poll are as follows: Major gains for Akali's in Majha; Akali's have an upper hand in Doaba; while Congress has an upper hand in Malwa.

The projected vote share according to this poll is: Congress 41 per cent; SAD-BJP 41 per cent, BSP 5 per cent and others 15 per cent.

UNI