New Delhi, Nov 21: According to an AC Nielsen-Outlook-Zee News Opinion Poll, Congress seems all set to sweep Delhi and Rajasthan. BJP will conquer the Congress bastion in Madhya Pradesh but horns will be locked in the battle for Chhattisgarh. Delhi will give in to Sheila Dikshit’s charm. Congress will capture 56 of the 70 seats to win a comfortable majority. BJP, which will face a negative swing of 0.6%, would have to settle for only 11 seats. Congress, for which 49.7% people intend to vote, has a 1.9% swing in its favour. BJP’s vote share would be 33.4%.
Congress gets two times lucky in Rajasthan, where the anti-incumbency factor is not predicted to work. Gehlot would lead with 113 seats in the house of 200 despite a negative swing of 4.5%. BJP, which would gain a 2.5% swing on the caste and drought issues, would still fall far too short with 67 seats. Obviously, Vasundhararaje Scindia’s theatrics in her ghagras fail to impress. BJP settles for 36.4% vote share.
But it’s sweet vengeance for BJP in Madhya Pradesh, where Diggy Raja’s election management goes for a toss and anti-incumbency factor rules. Uma Bharati’s lotus party bounces back with 147 seats of the total 230 with a 4.3% swing in its favour. Congress would have to sulk with 58 as it faces a 7% negative swing and gets only 34.2% vote. The lion’s share of 43.1% vote goes to the BJP.
Chhattisgarh electorate seems to be the most undecided in these elections. Both BJP and the Congress are projected to get 43 seats each of the 90 member assembly. With both parties expected to get 40% vote share each, it could be anybody’s match. The point to note, however, is that while the BJP has a 0.5 swing in its favour, it’s 1% swing against the Congress. Independents could play a crucial role. But again, the fieldwork for the study was conducted on October 30, before the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Dilip Judeo got involved in the murky corruption imbroglio.
The entire opinion poll was arrived at after 180 persons were interviewed from each assembly constituency of the four states.
Bureau Report