'BJP may get 17 seats in State'

Cong may be ahead in Kerala, Rajasthan, AP and Assamy

Election surveys by a number of private television channels say the Congress party will be ahead in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

However, the party is likely to be pushed aside in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

According to a CNN-IBN analysis of the general election, the saffron outfit may be able to retain its stronghold in Karnataka.

While the BJP is likely to get 40 per  cent of the votes (plus 5 per cent), the Congress may bag around 36 per cent (down 1 per cent). JD (S) may win 16 per cent with a dip of 4 per cent in vote share.

The NDTV exit poll says the BJP in Karnataka is likely to bag 17 out of 28 seats, leaving nine for the UPA. The Third Front led by Deve Gowda’s JD(S) may get two seats. The projections in the India TV-C Voter exit polls, however, give 13 seats each for the Congress and the BJP. Two seats may go to the JD (S).

Bad news for Cong

The state-wise projections made in the India TV- C Voter exit polls have bad news for the Congress in Karnataka, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. But the party may get good news from Delhi, Orissa, Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.

In Orissa, the Congress is likely to get 10 seats, BJD seven, BJP three and the JMM one.
In West Bengal, the Left Front may bag 26 seats followed by the Trinamool with 12 and the Congress four seats.

While the NDTV projected 3 per cent swing in favour of Narendra Modi giving the NDA 18 seats and the Congress eight, the India TV’s estimates are also on similar lines—19 for the BJP and nine for the Congress.

According to India TV, out of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress is likely to bag 22, TDP-TRS 16, BJP one, MIM one  and the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) two.

The Congress in Andhra Pradesh is likely to lose 11 per cent of the votes it had won in the last elections due to anti-incumbency factors, the exit poll by the NDTV said.

However, it is Chiranjeevi’s PRP which will reap benefits by cornering 18 per cent of the votes. While the PRP is likely to get 11 per cent votes from the Congress, it will get the remaining 7 per cent from the TDP and others.

As per the NDTV poll, the UPA is likely to retain 29 seats out of the 42 and the Third Front, may  bag 10. The NDA is likely to get two seats and the PRP one.

Tamil Nadu is also likely to witness similar swing against the ruling DMK with the UPA losing six seats and retaining 20. However, it is the DMDK of Vijayakanth and not the AIADMK which will benefit from the 15 per cent swing against the DMK. Jayalalitha has been projected to get 18 seats.

However, the India TV poll has given as many as 26 seats to the AIADMK, leaving 11 for the DMK and two for the Congress.