AIMIM's Waris Pathan expressed confidence in winning the BMC polls, dismissing exit polls that predict a massive victory for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Various polls project the Mahayuti alliance crossing the majority mark of 114 seats.
AIMIM Confident Despite Exit Polls
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) National Spokesperson Waris Pathan on Thursday expressed confidence that the party would achieve "great success" in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. Speaking to ANI, Waris Pathan said, "This is an exit poll, not an accurate poll, and whatever is being shown, this isn't the first time it's happened. It's happened many times before that something was shown in the poll, and in the end, it turned out to be something else. Tomorrow is the vote counting, so tomorrow the results will come out. By tomorrow evening, everything will be clear. Who won, who lost, everything will be known... We are confident that the people have blessed us with their votes... We will achieve great success..."
Exit Polls Predict BJP-Sena Alliance Victory
The exit polls released after the BMC polls on Thursday predicted a victory for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, with the Thackeray brothers finishing second and Congress and its allies not putting up a strong show. According to Axis My India's predictions, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is poised to win 131-151 seats; the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance 58-68 seats; the Congress-VBA-RSP alliance 12-16 seats; and others 6-12 seats. BMC polls were held for 227 seats, and a party or alliance needs 114 seats for simple majority.
The Axis My India also made vote-share predictions, projecting a 42% vote share for the Mahayuti allies (BJP 28%, Shiv Sena 14%). It predicted Shiv Sena (UBT) getting 24 per cent votes, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) 7 per cent and NCP (SP) one per cent. The three parties fought the polls as allies. The Congress has tied up with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP) for the civic polls.
DV Research Predictions
According to DV Research, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is poised to win 107-122 seats; the Thackeray brothers' alliance 68-83 seats; the Congress-led alliance 18-25 seats; and others 8-15 seats.
Janmat Exit Poll Predictions
According to the Janmat exit poll, the BJP and Shiv Sena are poised to win 138 seats; the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance 62 seats; the Congress-led alliance 20 seats; and others 7 seats. The poll has predicted a margin of error of plus or minus five seats.
Saam TV Exit Poll Predictions
The Saam TV exit poll predicted 84 seats for the BJP, 35 for its ally Shiv Sena, 65 for Shiv Sena (UBT), two for NCP (SP), ten for MNS. It said the Congress-led alliance would get 23 seats, the NCP three seats and others five seats.
High-Stakes Election Following Shiv Sena Split
Maharashtra went to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, including the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with stakes high for the Thackeray brothers as also BJP-Shiv Sena after the ruling Mahayuti alliance's stupendous victory in the assembly polls last year. The votes will be counted on Friday.
In the capital city, Mumbai, voting took place in 227 wards, with approximately 1,700 candidates in the fray. A total of 1,03,44,315 citizens were eligible to vote in the BMC polls.
The undivided Shiv Sena was a strong force in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It won 84 seats in the last polls held in 2007 and the BJP won 82 seats. This is the first BMC election following the split in Shiv Sena in 2022. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)