New Delhi: The BJP will retain Madhya Pradesh and have an edge in Chhattisgarh while the Congress will return to power Rajasthan in the upcoming Assembly polls, a poll survey predicted on Monday.
As per a survey by WarRoom Strategies, which was broadcast by English news channel Times Now, the BJP is likely to win 142 out of the total 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the coming elections. The BJP is likely to lose 23 seats which it won in 2013.
The Congress is likely to get 77 seats which will be 20 more than it won in 2013 Assembly elections. According to the survey other political parties like BSP, SP and other regional parties are expected to win 11 seats.
“A total of 14,569 respondents participated in the survey conducted from August 16-September 30. The samples were collected from all 230 Assembly segments and the margin of error is +/- 3,” it said.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP is likely to retain power as the popularity graph of Chief Minister Raman Singh has not gone down despite ruling the state for the last 15 years.
The survey claimed that the BJP has an edge in Chhattisgarh.
“In Chhattisgarh, as per the projections, the BJP is likely to win 47 seats (49 in 2013), Congress 33 seats (39 in 2013) and Others 10 seats (2 in 2013),” it said.
According to the survey, the ruling BJP is going to lose Rajasthan and the Congress is likely to return to power after five years following the tradition of alternate governments in the state.
It said out of 200 Assembly seats, the BJP, which won 163 seats in 2013, is likely to win only 75 seats this time. The Congress would exceed its tally from 21 in 2013 to 115 in 2018. The Others are likely to win 10 seats.
The 22,345 respondents across 200 Assembly constituencies took part in the survey in Rajasthan.
The survey comes a day after the ABP News-CVoter predicted that the Congress may return to power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after a gap of 15 years and will make a comeback in Rajasthan.
These surveys came after Election Commission set the stage for the high-stakes battle between the BJP and the Congress in all these three states ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Voting will be held in a single phase in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan on November 28 and December 7 respectively while Chhattisgarh will have two-phased elections on November 12 and 20.
The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for three consecutive terms while in Rajasthan power alternates between the two parties every election.
Counting of votes in all the states will be done on December 11.
[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]