IANS-Matrize Exit poll: 65 pc women voters backed NDA

Patna, Nov 11 (IANS) An overwhelming 65 per cent of women voters appear to have backed the NDA while 78 per cent of Muslim voters went with the Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar Assembly elections, showed the IANS-Matrize Exit Poll on Tuesday.

The findings of the Exit Poll, with a sample size of 66,087 and a margin of error of plus-minus 3 per cent, suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government’s and Nitish Kumar government’s women-centric welfare schemes have impressed women who backed the ruling alliance wholeheartedly in the current elections.

The Mahagathbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, managed to secure just 27 per cent of women's votes. Jan Suraaj could garner only 6 per cent of the votes of female electors, said the Exit Poll released after the conclusion of the second and final phase of voting for 243 seats in the Assembly on Tuesday.

As per the Exit poll projections, the BJP-led NDA is set to garner 48 per cent vote share, effectively translating into almost two-thirds majority in the 243-member Assembly, while the Mahagathbandhan is seen getting limited to 37 per cent vote share, which barely translates into 70-90 seats for the RJD-Congress-led alliance.

The NDA’s popularity among male voters was also more than the Mahagathbandhan. The NDA got votes of 52 per cent of male voters as compared to 36 per cent of the Mahagathbandhan, according to the Exit Poll.

While the election results will be known on November 14, the IANS-Matrize Exit Poll indicated that the NDA scored over the Mahagathbandhan even in wooing voters from the Scheduled Castes, OBC and General categories.

As many as 51 per cent OBC voters supported the NDA, 39 per cent backed the Mahagathbandhan, and 4 per cent supported the Jan Suraj Party. Other candidates managed to corner 6 per cent of OBC votes, according to the Exit Poll

A majority of SC electors chose the NDA as their first choice. The Exit Poll showed that 49 per cent of SC voters supported the NDA, 38 per cent voted for the Mahagathbandhan, 5 per cent backed the JSP, and 8 per cent of voters supported other candidates.

As many as 69 per cent of voters from the General category supported the NDA while 15 per cent backed the Mahagathbandhan.

The Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan was the undisputed choice of Muslim voters in Bihar. While 78 per cent of Muslim electors backed the Mahagathbandhan, only 10 per cent supported the NDA, said the Exit Poll.

--IANS

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