NDA to fall just 36 short of majority: survey

NDA is likely to bag 236 seats, just 36 short of 272, while Congress may struggle to reach 73

No alliance will get majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but NDA would come closest to the majority 272 mark, the ABP News-Nielsen survey has predicted.

The NDA is likely to bag 236 seats, merely 36 short of 272, while the Congress may struggle to reach 73 seats. The poll says the BJP on its own will notch up an unprecedented 217 seats, giving it a very realistic chance of forming the next government.

The Congress, even along with its allies in the UPA is unlikely to cross 100 seats, it says. The survey claims the Aam Aadmi Party would get a modest 10 seats but the real surprise could be the regional parties with 186 seats.

The opinion poll findings released today claim BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the most preferred choice as the next PM. It says 57 percent of the nearly 30,000 respondents it interviewed across 129 constituencies favoured Modi, 17 percent Rahul Gandhi and merely three percent felt Arvind Kejriwal should be the next PM.

ALLIANCE-WISE STANDINGS		PARTY-WISE STANDINGS
NDA	236	BJP	217
UPA	92	Congress	73
Left	29	Trinmaool	29
Others	186	AIADMK	19
Total	543	BSP	13
MOST PREFERRED CHOICE FOR PM		DMK	13
Narendra Modi	57%	AAP	10
Rahul Gandhi	17%	JDU	09
Arvind Kejriwal	3%

The survey found that 46 percent of its 30,000 respondents across 129 constituencies felt price rise was the biggest problem affecting the common man, 34 percent said it was corruption and 18 percent thought unemployment to be the most vexing problem.

The BJP’s highest ever was 189 seats in 1999. That election was also the Congress’ worst showing ever with 114 seats. The poll said NDA has gained 10 seats since ABP News-Nielsen’s last survey in January. It has predicted 88 of the 151 seats to the NDA in north India with BJP getting 80 of these. The NDA will get 88 seats in west India with BJP getting 79 seats. It has forecasted 20 seats for the BJP in south India and 30 seats in east India.