JOIN USMamata hat-trick likely in West Bengal elections: Opinion poll
A recently conducted opinion poll predicted that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will return to power in West Bengal for the third time albeit with a lesser number of seats in the Assembly elections.
The opinion poll conducted by the CNX and ABP Ananda (a private news channel) showed that the TMC will get around 146 to 156 seats, while the BJP will win around 113 to 121 seats.
The magic figure in the West Bengal Assembly is 148 and the state has a total of 294 Assembly constituencies. The survey was conducted among 8,960 persons in 112 Assembly constituencies in Bengal from January 23 to February 7.
The opinion poll predicted that the TMC will face a reduction not only in the number of seats but also in terms of vote share. It bagged 211 seats and 44.9% votes it bagged in the last Assembly elections. But according to the opinion poll, it will get 42% votes in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The BJP is predicted to record a major leap in terms of number of seats and vote share since the last Assembly elections in 2016 where it only won three seats and got 10.2% votes. It showed that the saffron party’s vote share in the upcoming Assembly elections will shoot up to 37%.
However, the Left-Congress alliance is predicted to end up with a lesser number of seats and vote share. The opinion poll showed that the alliance will get 20 to 28 seats and 17% votes compared to 76 seats and 32% votes it got in the last Assembly elections.
Other parties are predicted to win one to three seats and get 3% votes whereas they won no seats and got 12.9% votes in the last Assembly elections. The opinion poll predicted that the AIMIM will get around 1% votes.
According to the survey Mamata Banerjee got a substantial lead over BJP State president Dilip Ghosh in terms of who the voters want to see as the next chief minister of Bengal. While 38% of those who participated in the survey preferred Mamata, 19% preferred Ghosh.
Senior TMC leader and Minister Tapas Roy said that “regardless of what surveys predict the people of Bengal will vote for Mamata Banerjee because of her development works.”
State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that “if even before the declaration of the model of conduct, the BJP is predicted to win so many seats, one can understand we will achieve our target of 200 seats if free and fair elections are held.”