New Delhi: The television screens' verdict seemed to be: "Even the exit polls are hung."

As the clock struck 6.30pm, the TV channels began flashing the various exit poll predictions for Saturday's Karnataka Assembly polls, whose results will be declared on Tuesday.

Of the nine polls available - three of them commissioned by Kannada media houses - five showed the BJP leading while four plumped for the Congress.

Today's Chanakya, which got its 2014 general election prediction almost spot on but erred on Bihar 2015, has given Karnataka to the BJP with 120 seats, plus or minus 11. It has the Congress a distant second at 73, also with a margin of 11 on either side.

This is by far the highest tally predicted for the BJP among all the exit polls. While the Karnataka Assembly has 224 seats (plus a nominated member), elections to two seats have been rescheduled, putting the current halfway mark at 112.

The Congress has received its highest tally from the Axis My India poll for India Today as well as Suvarna's poll. Both have given the party a high of 118 seats and a low of 106.

Although Kannada newspaper editors have largely given the Congress the upper hand in the elections, their pollsters are divided. While Suvarna has echoed the India Today numbers, Dighvijay News has given the BJP the lead with 103-107 seats.

Peoples Pulse, which carried out a poll in collaboration with Kannada daily Kolaravani, has forecast 93 to 103 seats for the Congress, and 83 to 93 for the BJP.

The split verdict once again brought the spotlight on the pollsters, with critics bringing up their track record of more misses than hits.

Others mulled over the futility of this media-driven exercise considering that the actual results will be out in less than three days.