Chandigarh, A new exit poll survey on Tuesday said the two arch rivals — BJP and Congress — are locked in a close fight in Haryana and the result could go either way.
A day earlier, several opinion polls predicted the ruling BJP will return to power with a brute majority by winning 75 out of 90 seats.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll result on Tuesday showed in the 90-member Haryana Assembly election, the BJP is likely to win 32-44 seats.
In the last Assembly polls, the BJP had won 47 seats while the half-way mark in the Haryana Assembly is 45.
The Congress on the other hand is likely to win 30-42 seats. In last election, Congress won just 15 seats in the state.
If the results of the India Today-Axis My India exit poll for Haryana hold true on October 24 when the Election Commission will declare the election results, Haryana will prove to be a tough challenge for the BJP and Congress, seeing a neck-and-neck fight, said the India Today website.
Another major prediction made by the India Today-Axis My India exit poll is that Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is expected to win 6-10 seats in Haryana, while others are also likely to pick up 6-10 seats.
In terms of party-wise vote share, the India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted the BJP to secure 33 per cent votes, the Congress to secure 32 per cent vote share and the JJP to get 14 per cent votes in the Assembly elections.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has also prepared a region-wise result for Haryana.
The exit poll predicts the BJP to win six of 14 seats in Ambala, while the Congress is expected to win seven seats and the JJP one seat.
In Faridabad region, there are 12 seats and the BJP is expected to win five of them, the Congress six and others one.
In Gurgaon, the BJP is predicted to win seven of the 11 seats, the Congress and others two seats each.
Hisar region has 20 seats, of which the BJP and the Congress are likely to win six seats each. The JJP is expected to win five seats here, while others may pick up three seats, the poll said.
In Karnal, the India Today exit poll predicts the Congress to win four seats, the BJP eight, while the JJP may pick up one seat.
Rohtak, which has 20 seats, will see a dominance for the Congress as it is expected to win 10 seats. The BJP is likely to win six seats and the JJP and others may win two seats each.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll used face-to-face interviews with questionnaire in all 90 Assembly seats in Haryana. The poll included a sample size of 23,118.
Seventy-two per cent of the respondents were in rural areas, while 28 per cent were in urban centres.