NDA may get slim majority, BJP 34 seats less: Survey
New Delhi: A poll survey on Sunday predicted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) may get a thin majority with 285 seats, 13 more than the magic figure of 272, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may get 34 seats less than it got in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The survey conducted by India TV-CNX, between March 1 and March 7 in 193 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies, also predicted a surge of the Congress with its tally likely to almost double compared with the last general elections.
According to the survey, the BJP’s tally may fall from 282 to 238 seats, 34 short of the midway mark of 272, while the Congress tally may jump from 44 in 2014 to 82.
The Election Commission on Sunday announced poll dates for the Lok Sabha elections. Elections will be held in seven phases, from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will be on May 23.
According to the opinion poll, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) may get 126 seats, while the ‘others’, including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Trinamool Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, regional parties and the independents may win 132 seats.
The NDA includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the AIADMK, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and other regional parties.
The UPA comprises the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the National Conference (NC), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and other smaller parties.
The ‘others’ include the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the YSR Congress Party, the Left Front, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P), the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Independents.
Of the total 285 seats expected for the NDA, the BJP may get 238 seats, the Shiv Sena 10, the JD(U) 12, the Akali Dal 3, the LJP 3 with the other regional and smaller parties taking the rest.
In UPA’s expected tally of 126 seats, the Congress may win 82 seats, the DMK 16, the RJD 8, the TDP 3 with the other regional and smaller parties accounting for the rest.
The list of ‘others’ include Mamata Banerjee’s TMC winning 30 seats, the SP 18, the Mayawati’s BSP 16, the YSR Congress 22, the TRS 14, the BJD 14, the AIADMK 12, the Left Front 6 and the other regional parties taking the rest.
The survey said the BJP may do a clean sweep in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Delhi due to the air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot.
IANS
