It is best not to believe an exit poll, or even a range of exit polls, entirely. The results in the last three parliamentary elections have shown that exit pollsters, predominantly, have got the numbers wrong. In 2009 and 2014, they managed to get the direction right, but were largely far from the numbers and did not predict a simple majority for the BJP in 2014 (except Chankya in 2014).

Having declared that red herring, IF the 2019 exit poll results were to hold on 23 May, then, at a national level, it will be a body blow to regional parties and the Congress.

The numbers come as a shocker, not because they predict a return of the BJP and Narendra Modi, but because they predict that the existing NDA, by itself, may cross the 300 seat mark, and have a clear majority.

This would mean not just a return of Narendra Modi to power, but a strong Modi to power.

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