The Telangana Assembly elections held on Thursday across 119 Assembly seats may signal a change, according to multiple exit poll results. The Congress and the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) engaged in a pitched battle for power, resulting in high-voltage campaigns and aggressive statements from political opponents.
Adhering to the norms set by the Election Commission of India (ECI), private agencies and media outlets released exit polls post 5.30 pm after polling concluded.
The magic figure for any party to form a government in Telangana is 60, and the Congress seems to have just managed to cross that mark, if the exit surveys are any indication of what is to come. A few agencies have shown that the Congress would win the highest number of seats but fall a few seats short of the required 60 seats. For the BRS, the agencies have provided contrasting figures ranging from 30 seats to 50 seats. Only a few agencies believe BRS could manage to form the government for the third time.
The AIMIM and the BJP were given single seats, as expected. Overall, the polls suggest a strong resurgence of Congress in the state compared to its past performance.
The surveys also ring alarm bells for the BRS, as none of the exit poll surveys show them reaching anywhere close to the 88 seats the party won in the 2018 elections.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao held a press conference and dismissed the exit poll surveys as "nonsense", questioning their authenticity and methodology, citing that people were still queued up outside booths even after 6 pm. He expressed confidence that the BRS would come back to power, winning more than 70 seats, and this would be proven on the day of the results, December 3.
Congress president A. Revanth Reddy also spoke to the media, stating that the people of Telangana voted consciously and chose the Congress.
Some surveys have also raised the possibility of a hung assembly in the state. It has been learned that both parties, Congress and BRS, are prepared if faced with any such eventuality.
