Exit polls vs Results: Who got it right in 2019 Lok Sabha elections

New Delhi, May 24: Most of the exit polls have predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will return to power after Lok Sabha election 2019.

There had been a near-unanimity on the possible winner but the India Today Group-Axis My India's exit poll for the 2019 general elections was spot on.

Exit polls by News 18-Ipsos, India Today-Axis and News 24-Chanakya had projected 336, 339-368 and 336-364 seats respectively for the NDA, and showed that the BJP would cross the majority mark on its own for another term.

Republic TV-CVoter also missed the mark by some distance. Their exit poll predicted the NDA to win 287 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament followed by 128 for the Congress-led alliance. Turns out neither predictions are in the vicinity of the current trends.

Times Now-VMR also missed the mark. They had the NDA alliance at 306 seats and the UPA at 132.

Two exit polls -- one by ABP News-Nielsen and another by Neta-News X -- had said the ruling alliance may fall short of a majority.

ABP News-Nielsen and Neta-NewsX predicted 127 and 164 seats respectively for the UPA. The CNN News18-Ipsos had projected only 46 seats for the Congress and 82 for its allies.

The CVoter-Republic forecast had given the grand alliance in UP 40 seats against 38 for the NDA, while the Jan Ki Baat had said the NDA may win 46-57 seats against 15-29 of the SP-BSP combine. ABP News had predicted a huge loss for the BJP in the state, saying it may get only 22 seats while the opposition alliance may emerge victorious in 56 constituencies. Past midnight, the BJP had won 58 seats and was leading in four in Uttar Pradesh. Its ally Apna Dal bagged two seats.

The NDA is ahead in 343 of the 542 seats, while the BJP lead has crossed 300. In 2014, the party won 282 seats, the NDA had won 336. It was the first time in more than three decades that a single party won majority on its own.