UPA in majority, in case of snap polls

New Delhi, Sept 8: Amid the thickening of election clouds in the horizon and political parties sparring over the Indo-US nuclear deal, a sample survey predicts a near majority for the ruling UPA in the event of flash Parliamentary elections this month.

The survey involving a sample 18,000 respondents in 23 states also finds that a majority of the respondents perferred Congress President Sonia Gandhi (56 per cent who supprted UPA) and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for holding the topmost job of the country. The survey conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies was sponsored by CNN-IBN and Indian Express.

The survey predicts 267 Lok Sabha seats for the UPA while the NDA is slated to win 133 seats. The UPA has 222 seats in the House while NDA commands 189 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

The grip of the NDA allies in the states of Orissa, Bihar and Punjab was 'firm' and are likely to win 43 seats as against 40 seats they now hold. The survey spells troubles for the BJP as it is projected to get only 21 seats as against its current strength of 56 MPs in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh where it is in power, the report summery claimed.

However, the party can draw solace from the prediction for Gujarat where Chief Minister Narendra Modi is placed on a 'firm wicket' having the confidence of 56 per cent of the respondents in the run-up to the elections of the State Assembly.

The survey finds that inflation and condition of farmers will be the the main election plank while only six per cent people felt that Indo-US nuclear deal was a poll issue. Over 64 per cent of respondents had not heard of the controversy that has been dogging the Indian political scene.

Even among the respondents who had heard of the deal only 35 per cent were for or against the deal, while 65 per cent had no opinion or took a view that the government knew the best.

The performance of the UPA Government in handling terrorism, corruption and inflation has come in for 'scathing indictment'. A substantial 44 per cent of people felt that the law and order in the country had deteriorated under the UPA regime while 49 per cent that the corruption had increased and 56 per cent respondents found that inflation had worsened under the present regime.

UNI