New Delhi, May 16 (IANS): Exit polls at the end of five-state elections on Monday evening predicted a Trinamool sweep in West Bengal, a BJP win in Assam, a Left victory in Kerala but the verdict was split over Tamil Nadu, with advantage to the DMK. The DMK was also tipped to win in Puducherry. In the biggest popularity test since the Lok Sabha polls of 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared poised to win in Assam for the first time, ending 15 long years of Congress rule. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was set to retain power with a slightly reduced majority. According to ABP-Nielsen, the Trinamool would win 163 of the 294 assembly seats. The CPI-M-led Left Front and the Congress combine would get 126 with a solitary seat going to the BJP. Others would get four seats. The exit polls were divided over Tamil Nadu. Two surveys predicted a defeat for Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. But a third said she would retain power comfortably, winning 139 of the 234 seats. In Kerala, however, the Left could return to power.
