Mamata to retain Bengal, hung assembly in Assam: Survey

Mamata Banerjee may retain power in West Bengal and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu while it may be a hung assembly in Assam with an edge to the BJP and the Left return to power in Kerala, says a poll survey.

According to the India TV C-Voter poll carried out in the four election-bound states, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK are poised to retain power with comfortable majorities.

Banerjee's Trinamool is projected to win 160 seats in a house of 294, a slight decrease over its landslide victory of 184 seats five years ago.

This time around, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Congress "combine" is projected to win 137 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may win only four and others may win three seats, the poll says.

The Left Front's tally may go up to 106 seats (up from 60 seats the last time around), while the Congress' share of seats may shrink from 42 to 21 this time.

In Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK-led combine may get a comfortable majority with 130 seats in a house of 234, with the DMK-Congress alliance likely to win 70 seats. The BJP may not win even a single assembly seat, according to the poll, while the rest may get around 34 seats.

In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is going to stage a comeback, with a comfortable majority of 86 seats in a house of 140, the survey says.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front may win 53 seats, while the BJP-led alliance may get only one seat, according to the opinion poll.

In Assam, the BJP-led alliance is projected to win 55 seats in a house of 126, nine short of majority. The Congress is projected to win only 53 seats, down from 78 it won five years ago.

Badruddin Ajmal's All Indian United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is projected to win 12 seats, six less than last time, while others may win six.

The BJP-led alliance includes the Asom Gana Parishad and Bodo People's Front.

The opinion poll was conducted in the fourth week of March, according to C-Voter.