BJP way ahead of Cong in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, says survey

Whether or not Congress believes in opinion polls is another matter but none of the polls conducted over various platforms using a plethora of methodologies have given them the edge over the Bharatiya Janata Party. It may be because of the avatar Narendra Modi as the BJP prime ministerial candidate or for the series of mistakes that the UPA committed in 10 years of governance, but the end-result is the same – a total rout for the hand and the lotus looms larger than ever. In a state-wise survey conducted by Hansa Research for NDTV, out of the 265 seats discussed on the channel today, the NDA is clearly ahead with 166 seats followed by UPA’s 52 and 16 for the others. [caption id=“attachment_1433517” align=“alignnone” width=“300”] Poll time. Reuters[/caption] Karnataka Notwithstanding the hullabaloo over bringing tainted former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa back to the party fold, the BJP probably took a electorally smart move if this survey is to be believed. Owing to the return of Yeddyurappa, who will fight the polls from Shimoga, the BJP is likely to get enough of a boost to increase its seat tally. “The return of Yeddyurappa to the BJP and his impact in terms of increasing the number of seats for the party shows the power of the regional leader,” said The Indian Express, editor-in-chief, Shekhar Gupta. Columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni felt that the image of present Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaih is very good and that will help the Congress a bit. The Janata Dal (Secular) under former prime minister HD Deve Gowda is likely to decimated in forthcoming polls. Seat tally Total number of seats - 28 BJP - 20 Congress - 6 JDS - 2 Tamil Nadu The AIADMK is clearly leading the polls in the 39-seat state. The popular opinion of the people is also to see Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa as the next prime minister. Columnist Cho Ramaswamy said, “The DMK cadre is annoyed with the family politics of the leadership. The DMK’s fall is quite evident.” Explaining where Jayalalithaa makes the cut columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni said, “Pro-poor policies like Re 1 idli will help Jaya in the polls”. Another interesting point that the survey found out is that the BJP is ahead of the Congress in vote share in the state. Seat tally Total number of seats: 39 ADMK - 27 (+18) DMK - 10 (-8) Others - 2 West Bengal The Left is on a rapid fall in West Bengal as the survey pointed out. The Trinamool Congress under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is making quick gains with even the respondents willing to see her as the prime minister ahead of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee said, “Mamata’s popularity is on a high while the Left is not attempting to regain its lost popularity. Even the street cadres are with Trinamool and the Left is not left with any fighting power.” Seat tally Total number of seats: 42 TMC - 32 (+13) Left - 9 (-6) Cong - 1 (-5) Rajasthan Fresh from an Assembly election recently, the Congress will have some respite if the people are less angry with the party in the state or else the combined magic of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will continue. “People like Sachin Pilot are not sure of retaining their seats and they are looking for safer seats. If the anti-Gehlot voters are less angry then Congress will get some space,” said Firstpost writer Sandipan Sharma, who was on the show as a guest. Seat tally Total number of seats: 25 BJP - 19 (+15) Congress - 5 (-15) Others - 1 (0) Delhi The AAP show is likely to continue in the state. But there was a piece of advice to the party from columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni, who said, “AAP should have stuck to governance in Delhi and build the organisation. This kind of impatience will not help any party in the long run.” Seat tally Total number of seats: 7 AAP - 4 BJP - 2 Congress - 1 Haryana Congress is going to struggle in this state despite Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda trying his best and getting some Jat votes. Seat tally Total number of seats: 10 BJP - 7 (+6) Congress - 3 (-6) Maharashtra The BJP-Shiv Sena is going to make major gains as per the poll. However, the survey was conducted before the MNS increased its coziness with the BJP. Daily Marathi, chief editor, Kumar Ketkar said, “These are all anti-Congress and anti-NCP votes and not necessarily pro-BJP and pro-Shiv Sena votes. Seat tally Total number of seats: 48 BJP+SS: 33 Cong+NCP: 12 Others - 3 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is rated above Narendra Modi as the next prime minister, is making an effort to continue the momentum that was generated in the recently concluded Assembly polls which the BJP won hands down. Seat tally Total number of seats: 29 BJP: 24 (+8) Congress: 4 (-8) Others: 1 Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has worked hard and the effort is showing dividends as the survey has predicted a landslide for the BJP. Seat tally Total number of seats: 11 BJP - 9 (-1) Congress - 2 (+1) Others - 1 Gujarat Home to BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, BJP is comfortably ahead in the state. However, Leena Mishra, resident editor, The Indian Express, said, “BJP would be upset to get 23 percent of vote share. They want 100 percent.” Seat tally Total number of seats: 26 BJP - 23 (+8) 50 percent Congress - 3 (-8) 40 percent Jharkhand Total number of seats: 14 Vote share given only BJP - 25 percent Cong - 21 percent JMM - 10 percent Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar probably made the biggest mistake of his political career till date by snapping ties with the BJP for the Narendra Modi factor. The damage will be done nationally although not much regionally for the Janata Dal United. Columnist Siddharth Varadarajan said, “The snapping of ties is going to harm Nitish.” Seat tally Total number of seats: 40 BJP+LJP: 23 (+11) 32% Cng+RJD: 11 (+5) JDU: 5 (-15) Others: 1 (-1)