Out of the 344 Lok Sabha seats that went to poll in the first three phases, the exit poll conducted by `Insight' for the television channel gives the BJP and allies 213 seats and the Congress and allies 90. Parties in the `Others' category are likely to win 30 seats.

If the results of this poll are reflected in the actual results, the NDA will have to notch up just 60 seats out of the remaining 200 seats which will go to poll in the next two phases to clear the half-way mark in the Lok Sabha.

The poll covered about 1.2 lakh voters in 127 constituencies in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh where polling has been fully completed and in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh where polling has beenpartially conducted.

Eleven seats in the Union territories and Jammu and Kashmir were not covered in the exit poll.

The exit poll predicted huge gains for the BJP alliance in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In Delhi, the BJP may win all but one of the seven seats, if the poll is on target.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine could get 31 of the 48 seats against 10 seats for the Congress and seven for the others including Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.

The tally marks a gain of 21 seats for the BJP alliance and a loss of 27 for the Congress.

The NCP, according to the poll, had split the Congress vote in half, giving the advantage to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine despite it facing an anti-incumbency swing against it.

In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP-Telugu Desam Party combine is likely to do extremely well by winning 33 out of the 42 seats. The combination had won 16 seats while fighting separately in the 1998 elections. The Congress, despite a small voter swing in its favour, may end upwith only seven seats.

In Uttar Pradesh where polling has been completed for 30 of the 85 seats, the BJP and allies are likely to win 18 and the Congress and allies three. Others including Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party may together win nine seats.

In Rajasthan, the BJP is expected to bag 14 of the 25 seats, followed by the Congress with 10 seats.

The results of the Star poll vary to a large extent from the three other exit polls so much so that even in Punjab, where the Congress was expected to sweep the polls, the BJP-Akali Dal could get eight seats against four for the Congress.

The poll cites the parting of ways between the Congress and the BJP as the reason for the BJP-Akali Dal doing well. This, despite the split in the Akali Dal. The losses of the BJP alliance, according to it, were not large enough for the Congress to significantly dent the prospects of the BJP-Akali Dal combine.

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK alliance appeared to have a clear edge over the AIADMK-Congress combine. InKarnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan, neither alliance had recorded significant gains or losses but the BJP still led in all three States.

Following are the projected seats for the BJP and the Congress alliances in each state covered by the three phases of polling:

Delhi: BJP-6; Congress -1

Gujarat: BJP-15; Congress-11

Haryana: BJP-6; Congress-4

Karnataka: BJP-19; Congress-8; Others-1

Kerala: BJP-0; Congress-11; Others-9

Maharashtra: BJP-31; Congress-10; Others-7

Punjab: BJP-8; Congress-4; Others-1

Rajasthan: BJP-14; Congress-10; Others-1

Tamil Nadu: BJP-26; Congress-13

Andhra Pradesh: BJP-33; Congress-7; Others-2

Uttar Pradesh: BJP-18; Congress-3; Others-9

Bihar: BJP-16;Congress-3

Madhya Pradesh: BJP-21; Congress-5