New Delhi, March 10: The biggest surprise emerging out of the exit polls for Punjab Assembly Elections 2017 has been the rise of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. Even as all eyes are on March – the counting day, most of the exit polls have predicted that AAP would be at par with the Congress with somewhere close to 50-53 seats in the 117-seat Punjab Assembly. What’s even interesting is that the exit polls show the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine being completely decimated with a mere 6-9 seats. Some exit polls have even given the AAP an edge over the Congress even though not majority.
The News24-Today’s Chanakya exit poll has predicted a tie between the Congress and the AAP in Punjab with both the parties at 54 seats each, while the SAD-BJP at a mere 9 seats. The India News-MCR poll too has predicted a tie between the Congress and the AAP with both at 55 seats each. The ABP-CSDS exit poll predicts a hung House in Punjab even as it says the Congress will emerge as the single largest party. The exit poll looks like this: SAD-BJP 19-27, Congress 46-56, AAP 36-46, Others 0-4. On the contrary, the India Today-Axis poll has predicted a Congress victory in Punjab with the party winning in 62 to 71 seats. It says that the AAP will win 42-51 seats while the SAD-BJP combine will be reduced to 4-7 seats.
