Gujarat polls: Exit polls predict a hat-trick for Modi

New Delhi: Exit and opinion polls on television channels at the end of voting in Gujarat on Tuesday projected BJP performing a hat-trick in the state while Congress is predicted to have an edge in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh. Exit poll carried out by C-Voter for Times Now predicted 119 to 129 seats for BJP while Congress is projected to win between 49 and 59 seats out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat Assembly.  _News 24_ showed that BJP is likely to get 140 against 117 seats it had won in 2007 Assembly polls as the party is expected to get 46 per cent of the total vote share. The poll carried out by Chanakya for the channel projected Congress to get 40 seats, 19 short of 59 it won in 2007 polls. Headlines Today projected BJP to get between 118 and 128 seats while Congress is likely to win in 50 to 56 seats with 37 per cent vote share. The ABP News predicted BJP to win in 126 seats and Congress in 50 constituencies. C-Voter predicted a vote share of 46 per cent for BJP against 37 per cent for Congress while Chanakya said BJP is likely to get 50 per cent vote share against 35 per cent of Congress. In Himachal Pradesh, C-Voter predicted 30 to 38 seats for Congress while BJP is likely to get 27 to 35 seats in the 68-member Assembly. Chanakya predicted Congress to win in 40 seats while they said BJP is likely to win in 23 seats. Others may win in five seats. CNN-IBN predicted Congress to get between 29 and 35 and the same for BJP. It also said Congress would get a vote share of 41 per cent and BJP 40 per cent. The CNN-IBN poll conducted after the Phase-I in Gujarat projected that the BJP would win 53-63 seats while Congress 19 to 27. PTI