BJP to retain in Himachal, AAP to have no-show, predicts Republic-PMARQ exit poll

New Delhi, Dec 05: The Republic-PMARQ exit poll on Saturday predicted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) likely to retain power in Himachal Pradesh.

As per the Republic-PMARQ exit poll, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is supposed to get 34-39 seats, while the Congress is likely to bag 28-33 seats. The majority mark is 35 in 68-member strong assembly.

Interestingly, the new entrant in the Himachal political scene, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is unlikely to reap the benefits of forming a government in the neighbouring state of Punjab and it is predicted to end up with 2-10 seats in the hill state.

In terms of vote share, they predicted that both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress will get a 44.8% vote share and 42.9 seats each and AAP with 2.8%.

In 2017, the exit polls had predicted that the saffron party would comfortably return to power in Himachal Pradesh. The hill state has an electorate of over 55 lakh.

The exit poll results came out after the conclusion of the second phase of polling in Gujarat on Monday.

The polling was held for 68 constituency seats in Himachal Pradesh on November 12 and the counting of votes is scheduled to be taken up on December 8. The state recorded around 74.54 per cent voter turnout, per an official Election Commission announcement.

The Congress and the BJP wound up their assembly poll campaigns for Himachal Pradesh, which saw high profile leaders descending on it with promises that ranged from implementation of a common civil code to scooters for college-going women. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is contesting to return to power in the Jai Ram Thakur-led state, scored on bringing in the big names. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited twice, addressing a series of rallies, as reported by PTI.

In the outgoing assembly, the ruling BJP holds 43 states. The hill state has a history of alternating between the Congress and the BJP in every election since 1982 - and the opposition party says it is its "turn" now.

If that happens it would be a morale booster for the party that has lost state after state since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.