Exit polls predict BJP sweep in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections will be swept by the Bharatiya Janata Party, exit polls predicted Thursday.

Though polling concluded in the hilly state a month ago, the counting will be done on Monday, along with Gujarat. For this reason, the exit polls had to be held back until Thursday.

The exit poll by Today's Chanakya gave 48-62 seats to the BJP, in a House of 68, and 6-20 seats to the Congress. Others could notch up to three seats.

The NewsX CNX exit poll indicated 42-50 seats for the BJP, 18-24 for the Congress and two for others.

According to C Voter, the BJP will get 41, the Congress 25 and others two.

The India Today-Axis poll gave estimated 47-55 for the BJP and 13-20 for the Congress.

The Congress and the BJP fielded candidates on all seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) fought on 42 and 14 seats, respectively. A total 337 candidates were in the fray, out of which only 19 were women.

The elections were pretty one-sided with the anti-incumbency factor weighing heavily against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The state's electorate has been booting out regimes in elections since 1985.

In the run up to the election, Singh's government faced charges of lax law and order, exemplified by the murder of a four-year-old and the rape and the Gudiya rape and murder. The murder of forest guard Hoshiar Singh in Bilaspur also became a campaign issue.

In rural Himachal, the BJP played on the issue of price realisation of farm products and irrigation.

The government also faced corruption charges, with Singh facing investigation from central agencies on allegations of disproportionate assets.

From the BJP's side, Prem Kumar Dhumal was the CM's face.