The voting in the final phase of the Assembly elections has ended and media outlets in partnership with various psephological firms have come up with their exit poll predictions. While not all exit poll figures are on point, their assumption is based on science and cannot be rejected in totality. However, experts suggest that exit polls should be taken with a pinch of salt as they have proven to be woefully wrong in the past. AAP ka Punjab — 117 seats (59 to win) The Exit Polls have predicted the Aam Aadmi Party would win the maximum seats and is likely to form the government in Punjab. This would be a dream come true for Arvind Kejriwal’s party that has been striving to come to power in a full state, unlike Delhi. While Times Now-VETO has conservatively predicted 54-58 seats for AAP, India Today exit poll has predicted 76 to 90 seats in the 117-seat Assembly which touches the majority mark at 59. In fact, most surveys have predicted over 50 seats for the party, with an exception of India TV -Ground Zero Research and India News, which have predicted an abysmal 27-37 seats and 39-43 seats for the party, respectively. ETG Research’s poll shows the Aam Aadmi Party winning 70-75 seats, whereas India Today’s poll shows the party winning between 76 and 90 seats. NewsX-Polstrat poll predicts a win of 56-61 seats, as is the case with the poll by ABP News-CVoter that also shows the party getting anywhere between 51 and 61 seats. The poll of exit polls clearly shows a sweep by the AAP in Punjab. According to the P-MARQ exit poll, Congress will manage to scrape around 23-31 seats in Punjab. The poll also predicts that Shiromani Akali Dal is likely to see a dip in performance managing only 16-24. However, it could not have performed any much better had it continued its alliance with the BJP, as the saffron parties and allies are predicted to win one, or at the maximum three seats. The same is the case with ‘other’ parties who are also likely to bag 1-3 seats. AAP is expected to score big in Punjab’s Malwa region, expected to win 44-54 seats of the 69 seats in the region. Congress is expected to perform the best in the Doaba and is predicted to win 7-11 of the 23 seats. Of the 25 seats in the Majha belt, the Congress is likely to bag four seats, while the AAP may win 15 seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal may manage to bag five seats. BJP’s return to UP’s corridors of power — 403 seats (202 to win) Times Now-Veto survey has predicted that the BJP and its allies will win big in Uttar Pradesh, bagging anywhere between 227 and 254 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly. P-MARQ exit poll survey has predicted 240 (give or take, 15 seats) for the saffron party. The majority mark is at 202. The primary opponent — Samajwadi Party and allies — are likely to win 140 seats, giving a margin of 10 seats. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party has been predicted to win 17 (plus/minus 5) seats, and the Congress is expected to win 4 seats, give or take two seats. Pol Strat exit polls predict that BJP will retain power, albeit with a reduced majority, winning 218 seats. The Samajwadi Party alliance is expected to win 153 seats, 19 seats for BSP and six for Congress. An aggregate of exit polls gives the BJP and its allies 241 seats, with Akhilesh Yadav’s and allies bagging 142 seats together. Interestingly, BJP’s big win is expected to be in Western UP which has been the hotbed of the farmers’ agitation. The alliance is expected to win 69-83 of the 136 seats in the region, continuing its winning streak the region, as per P-MARQ. Uttarakhand’s dilemma — 70 seats (36 to Win) Times Now-Veto has predicted 44 to 50 seats for the saffron party in the hilly state, but it seems to be among the few to do so. In fact, the only other survey that predicts as many seats for BJP in Uttarakhand is India Ahead-ETG which says that the BJP will win between 46 and 50 seats in the 70-member Assembly. The remaining polls and a poll of polls predict a close fight, with the BJP marginally ahead but both the ruling party and the Congress within striking distance of power. The BJP could win 35 seats, the Congress 32 and AAP could land one seat, say exit polls. A poll of exit polls predicts a hung house with no party crossing the majority mark. An average of 10 available exit polls shows a close contest between the BJP and Congress, with the incumbent saffron party at a slight edge. However, both parties are within the reach of a majority. News 24 exit poll predicted that the BJP will win 43 while the Congress gets 24 in the news channel’s poll. However, India TV-Ground Zero Research has BJP at 25-29 and the Congress leading at 37-41. Goa’s hung Assembly — 40 seats (21 to Win) According to the Times Now-Veto exit poll results for Goa, Congress is projected to secure a majority with 16 seats while the incumbent BJP will have to settle with 14 seats and the AAP with just four. The exit poll results seem almost similar to the results of the 2017 Assembly elections when the grand old party had emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats. The saffron party, under late Manohar Parrikar, had managed to win only 13 seats. However, Congress had managed to cobble an alliance to make it to a simple majority of 21 seats. It was then that Parrikar — BJP’s Man Friday — swung into action to stitch together an alliance with parties like the MGP and the Vijai Sardesai-led Goa Forward Party (GFP) and two independent MLAs, and stitched an alliance that stayed in power until his death and beyond. However, this time the BJP does not have Parrikar-power and has to figure out a strategy if it has to come back to power with an alliance. The poll of exit polls also foresees a neck-and-neck fight in Goa. However, the numbers pitch a higher count for the BJP. It predicts both BJP and Congress to win 16 seats, which is way below the majority mark. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress that marked its westward journey with Goa, for a pan-India presence, is predicted to win three seats by ten exit polls. While it will not form the government by itself, it is expected to be the kingmaker in deciding who will form the government. Manipur rings for BJP — 60 seats (31 to win) Various exit polls predict that the BJP is likely to retain power in Manipur with a majority, while Congress may remain a distant second. The saffron party is expected to win between 32 and 38 seats, as per the Zee-Designboxed exit poll. It projects Congress to win 12-17 seats, Naga People’s Front (NPF) to win 3-5 seats and the National People’s Party (NPP) to win 2-5 seats. N Biren Singh — the first-ever BJP Chief Minister in Manipur — is seeking a fifth term. He has been the Chief Minister since 2002, despite shifting across three parties — from 2002 to 2007 as a Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party candidate, from 2007 to 2017 as a Congress candidate and as a BJP candidate since 2017. It is to be noted that the exit polls are merely indicative. The final results will be known on March 10.