Fresh opinion polls show BJP gaining at Cong cost

Fresh opinion polls on Monday predicted a hung Assembly after the elections with the JD(S)-BSP combine set to play the kingmaker's role.

While the opinion poll by ABP News gave a slight edge to BJP, the Times Now-VDS poll gave Congress a slight upper hand.

According to the poll by ABP News, opposition BJP could get 89-95 seats in the May 12 polls, while the ruling Congress may have to settle as a close second with 85-91 seats. The kingmaker would be the JD(S)-BSP combine, which may end up with 32-38 seats. The rest of the 6-12 seats may end up with 'others'.

The Times Now-VDS poll gave Congress 91 seats, while the BJP will be a close second at 89. In the 2013 polls, Congress had won 122 seats in the 224-strong Assembly, while the BJP and JD(S) won 40 seats each.

The ABP poll claimed that around 60% of the Lingayats could vote for the BJP, indicating that the Congress' plan to woo the community by giving them the minority tag might not have paid off.

Though Congress has conceded the edge to BJP in the opinion poll, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continues to be preferred, as 30% of the respondents believe that he should continue as the next chief minister, if Congress comes to power. B S Yeddyurappa is preferred by 25% of the total respondents. H D Kumaraswamy is a distant third with 20% votes.

An earlier opinion poll two weeks ago had predicted a hung Assembly with Congress emerging as the single-largest party and JD(S)-BSP combine playing the kingmaker's role. According to the India Today-Karvy Insights, Congress was likely to bag 90 to 101 seats, while the BJP could get 78 to 86 seats. The JD(S)-BSP combine was expected to win 34-43 seats.