NDA’s tally to go down by 86 if elections were held today; UPA’s to increase by 106: opinion poll

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will face a major setback in Lok Sabha in terms of its seats if general elections were to be held today, an opinion poll has found.

As per the India Today-Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation Poll, the PM Narendra Modi-led alliance would witness a sharp drop of 86 seats compared to its 2014 tally, when it had managed to win 323 seats, with the BJP alone winning on an unprecedented 282 seats out of the total 543.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance would be a major beneficiary of NDA’s waning popularity and would win on 166 seats. That would be an overall gain of 106 seats, if compared to the alliance’s performance in 2014.

The poll predicts that non-UPA, non-NDA parties would emerge as a powerful separate political force, winning a total of 140 seats. The list includes erstwhile Congress allies like the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which share an ideological resonance with Congress in taking on the BJP.

The poll findings have made even more probable the eventuality of a hung parliament, which may well affect the aspirations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be a two-term PM.

NDA allies and some within the BJP as well have been raising reservations about the functioning of the BJP under the leadership of Modi and his trusted lieutenant, BJP chief Amit Shah. A strengthened third front may well press the BJP to opt for a more acceptable candidate than Modi.

The poll predicts that NDA’s vote share, despite the drop in its seat-share, would remain higher than that of UPA.

While the NDA would get 35 per cent of total votes polled, the UPA would win 33 per cent vote share, as per the survey.