Exit polls 2019: PM Modi returning to power with 300-plus seats, say pollsters

The marathon seven-phased Lok Sabha polls concluded on Sunday, and shortly after that, exit polls are predicting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA is coming back to power at the Centre with close to 300 seats.

While the Times Now-VMR exit poll says the BJP-led NDA will win 306 of the 542 seats and the UPA will settle at 132, Republic C-Voter says the NDA will win 287 seats and UPA 128. Others, which include regional parties, will get 120 seats according to Times Now-VMR and 87 according to Republic C-Voter survey.

The News18-IPSOS survey predicts Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return with 336 seats for NDA.

Times Now-VMR survey predicted that the BJP would emerge as the single largest party winning 262 seats, after the end of mammoth seven-phase polling for the 542 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies. The BJP, on its own, may fall short of a majority by nine seats.

The results will be announced on May 23 and the new government will be formed next week.

Zee News is also showing the "poll of polls" Maha Exit Poll which includes details of all the exit poll surveys released by different pollsters and TV news channels.

Exit polls have been used for years to provide the pulse of India's political climate once voting is over. They try to give a sense of how voters may have exercised their franchise and which political party or alliance of parties stand the best chance of forming the next government.

Watch: Congress leader Sheila Dixit and BJP's Sudesh Verma react to the exit poll predictions:

Exit poll is an exercise where psephologists follow a systematic and scientific manner in putting out possible number of seats that a political party or alliance could muster up at the end of voting.