Opinion polls say NDA may lose majority

The Narendra Modi-led NDA is likely to lose majority in the Lok Sabha if elections are held now, two opinion polls on Thursday said.

The two ‘Mood of the Nation’ surveys — conducted by ABP-CVoter and India Today-Karvy Insights — gave almost identical numbers for the political parties, with the NDA losing around 100 seats which it holds now.

According to the ABP-CVoter survey, the NDA is poised to get 233 seats while the UPA is likely to get 167 seats, leaving 143 to parties not aligned to both coalitions.

The India Today-Karvy Insight survey showed that the NDA is likely to get 237 seats while the UPA may get 166. Others’ tally is pegged at 140.

While a section believes that the BJP may not be able to repeat its sweep in states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, the ABP survey claimed that the BJP is likely to win most of the seats in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat where it is predicted to win 23 out of 29 and 24 out of 26 seats, respectively.

In Bihar, the BJP-JD(U)-LJP combine is predicted to trounce the ‘Grand Alliance’ 35-5.

The likely impressive show in these states may offset the setback it will encounter in Uttar Pradesh, where it is likely to lose 45-50 sitting seats.

While the BJP has 68 MPs from Uttar Pradesh at present, the figure is likely to nose-dive to 25, majorly due to the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In Odisha too, the ABP survey said the BJP may gain at the cost of the BJD which holds 20 out of 21 seats. The BJP is predicted to win nine seats while the rest goes to the BJD.

West Bengal is another state predicted by the ABP survey where the BJP is likely to gain. It could win seven seats while the Trinamool Congress is predicted to win 34 seats.