Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win the Assembly elections in the state for the fourth straight time. Polling for 230 seats took place in Madhya Pradesh on November 28, and the results will be announced on December 11.

A day after exit polls predicted a tight race between the Congress and the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan said there is “no bigger surveyor [of public opinion]” than him, “as I interact with people day and night”. Speaking to reporters in Datia district, Chouhan said, “That is why I say with full confidence that the BJP will form the next government.”

“We have got the blessings of every section of society in the elections and we are on the way to win the polls,” Chouhan added, according to PTI. “Abki baar, 200 ke paar [This time, we will get more than 200 seats].”

Meanwhile, the Congress said the BJP was facing a “complete rout” in the five states that went to polls in recent weeks, PTI reported. “We [Congress] do not believe in these [exit polls] fully, but these are indicative of the results to come,” said Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Congress had its “internal polls before the exit polls were shown on TV and the Congress will register a bigger victory than projected in the media”, he said.

Various exit polls on Friday evening showed that the Congress is likely to take back control of Rajasthan, months ahead of the General Elections next summer. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, however, the exit polls were divided between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress.