Exit poll gives edge to BJP over Left Front in Tripura

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

AGARTALA, Feb 28: Is the red fort of North-East, Tripura, is getting faded and wearing a saffron coat?

The question became imminent after the exit poll predictions conducted by various organizations come out with fractured verdict but gave a clear edge to the BJP led coalition. Though the fil verdict will be known only after the counting of votes on March 3, the State is now agog with these predictions only.

While most of the more than half a dozen exit polls predicted that the state is going to witness a change, one local media website conducted an exit poll on their own and predicted that the Left Front is returning to power with large majority.

The local website said out of 59 seats, for which election was held on February 18, the Left Front is getting at least 40 seats while the BJP led coalition will get 10 seats. The rest nine seats are hanging on balance and may tilt either side. It also said most of the respondent wanted to see Manik Sarkar again in the saddle.

The ‘C Voter’ in their exit poll found that the state is heading for a neck to neck fight with a thin edge towards the Left Front. 

On the other hand News X-Jaan Ki Baat, India 24, Aaj Tak gave a clear cut verdict that the BJP-IPFT coalition is heading for a clear victory over the Left Front headed by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. 

According to their predictions the BJP led coalition is going to secure 35 to 50 seats while the Left Front’s share may come down up to 15 which will be a major setback for the front which is in power in the state for last quarter of a century uninterruptedly.

A local TV Channel Headlines Tripura in collaboration with the Peoples’ Pulse predicted that the BJP led coalition is going to win 50 seats. Another TV channel Vanguard also predicted almost a similar outcome.

The most interesting prediction came from Kok-borok, the language spoken by the tribals in Tripura, TV channel Kok Tripura who conducted survey only in 20 Tribal Reserve seats and predicted that the BJP-IPFT is going to win 13 to 16 seats while the CPI (M) may get four to seven seats.

It may be recalled that these 20 tribal reserve seats always considered as key for the Left Front’s winning statistics and in the last election also they own 19 out of these 20 seats.