LS seats not adding up for UPA even after possible post-poll tie-ups (IANS Election Special)

The Lok Sabha seats are not adding up for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) even after possible post-poll alliances.

The Congress-led UPA will be looking at Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Uttar Pradesh and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal to increase its tally as it continues to lag behind the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in pre-poll opinion poll.

The CVoter-IANS poll has predicted that the Mahagathbandhan of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (SP and BSP) is expected to win 47 seats in Uttar Pradesh and TMC will retain its hold over West Bengal by winning 34 seats.

The UPA is expected to win 141 seats (86 Congress, 55 allies). The post-poll tie-up in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam (with All India United Democratic Front) and Kerala (with Left Democratic Front) will see the UPA tally move up to 226.

It will be still way short of the half way mark of 272 but it will become a much powerful opposition than in 2014.

Within the UPA, the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu is expected to win 30 seats.

All other UPA partners are expected to remain marginal players with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) expected to win six seats in Maharashtra, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) four in Bihar and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) five in Jharkhand.

--IANS

gd/mr/vd