BJP is expected to win the assembly elections in Karnataka for the first time while its allies TDP and BJD are likely to retain power in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, according to an opinion poll carried out by Outlook magazine and Marketing and Development Research Associates (MRDA).
According to the poll, BJP is poised to form a government in Karnataka, cutting heavily into traditional Congress vote banks. The BJP and its ally JD(U) are likely to win a total of 111 seats in the 224 member Karnataka Assembly.
The combination is expected to add a whopping 49 seats to its 1999 tally of 62. The Congress may secure 84 seats, reflecting a loss of 48 seats, it said. The poll shows a decline in the Congress support base in all the four regions of the state, the magazome said in a release.
Pollsters have so far mostly prognosticated that Congress would win in the assembly elections in Karnataka but fare poorly in the Lok Sabha polls.
In Andhra Pradesh, it said TDP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, facing a double incumbency, is projected to win 163 seats out of a ttal assembly strength of 294 in the company of its ally, BJP.