New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Popularity of BJD is on the wane as CVoter Tracker’s latest 'State of the Nation' survey revealed that the ruling-party in Odisha could relinquish major ground if Lok Sabha elections are held today.
On the national front, the 'Mahagathbandhan' (MGB) between Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh could become a tough nut to crack for the NDA in the upcoming elections, the survey results revealed.
As per the survey, if the MGB materialises, then NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be deprived of majority while on the other hand if BSP chooses to go solo, then the NDA could sweep UP clean and end up with a total tally beyond 300 seats.
The SP and BSP alliance could snatch 44 seats in Uttar Pradesh which will bring the NDA’s national tally below the majority mark of 272. As per the ‘Desh Ka Mood’ survey, if the Mahagahthbandhan materialises, NDA will pocket 261 seats followed by the UPA with 119 seats in the country while others will have a combined tally of 128 seats.
However, if BSP’s Mayawati backs out of the much hyped Mahagathbandhan, it will clear the roads for BJP to win 70 seats in Uttar Pradesh helping it to bag 300 seats in total.
The NDA is poised for a vote share of nearly 38 per cent followed by the UPA with 26 per cent, the survey revealed.
As per the CVoter survey, PM Modi’s popularity has slipped to 53.6 per cent from 54 per cent during the last publication of survey results. However, Modi still has been ranked the No.1 leader in the country.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s popularity has seen a marginal increase from 21 per cent to 22.7 per cent.
Senior journalist Rabi Das stated that “At the national stage there is still some weakness or vacuum as opposition's plans for a Mahagathbandhan has not materialized fully.”
According to the survey, in Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is likely to suffer a setback with only 6 seats as NDA is expected to win 12 seats and Congress could win 3 seats out of 21 Lok Sabha seats if the elections are held today.
Earlier, the ABP-CVoter survey had also projected that BJD will win 6 Lok Sabha seats while the NDA tally was pegged at 13 seats.
It is pertinent to mention here that the CVoter survey of January had projected that NDA could win 335 seats with a total vote share of 44 per cent.
BJP’s Lekhashree Samantsinghar on the other hand stated that “There is time for the upcoming elections and certainly BJP will achieve its Mission 120 plus seats in Odisha.”
Senior Congress leader Ganeswar Behera on the other hand termed the survey unrealistic.
The predictions have been made taking into account the recent political developments across the country, the survey noted.
Especially, various factors including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to back out of the NDA, Shiv Sena's announcement of going to polls in 2019 alone without its alliance partner BJP, the alliance between Congress and JDS in Karnataka and the success of SP and BSP in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls have been taken into account, the survey highlighted.