Congress set to sweep polls in three states, reveal exit polls

ELECTION results due on Friday (May 13) are expected to give a boost to India’s embattled Congress, according to exit polls, with the ruling party and its allies tipped to win in at least three of five states.
 
The surveys show firebrand politician Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, in alliance with Congress, is set to deliver a crushing defeat to the world’s oldest democratically elected Communist government in West Bengal state.
 
The findings by AC Nielsen gave Banerjee’s coalition 215 of the 294 assembly seats that would end 34 years of Soviet-style economic management of the eastern state.
 
Banerjee, a populist who casts herself as a champion of the poor, has ridden a wave of popular discontent with the Communist government’s handling of the economy that has left industry in decline and the state neck-deep in debt.
 
Her win would give the federal coalition led by Premier Dr Manmohan Singh a lift at a time when it is reeling from a slew of corruption scandals, including a high-profile telecom graft case, and surging inflation.
 
Results from the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and the tiny union territory of Pondicherry over the past month are due to be released on Friday.
 
The voting has been seen as a mini-referendum on the popularity of Dr Singh, 78, and his government.
 
In Kerala, most surveys published in the Indian media tipped the Congress-led United Democratic Front to oust the Communist government there.
 
But in Tamil Nadu state, most polls projected the fall of the incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a key Congress ally, and victory for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) opposition led by ex-movie star J. Jayalalithaa.
 
A former DMK telecom minister is in jail over a mobile licensing scandal alleged to have cost the national treasury up to $40bn (£24.26bn) lost revenues.
 
In Assam, a poll published in the Times of India indicated Congress would narrowly retain power.
 
There were no surveys on the outcome of elections in Pondicherry, but before the vote analysts gave Congress the edge.