Surveys don't matter: BJP

The BJP rubbished a new survey that is the only one to predict that India's ruling coalition will not win a majority in the coming elections.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday rubbished a new survey that is the only one to predict that India's ruling coalition will not win a majority in the coming parliamentary elections.

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The party, which has been buoyed by past surveys placing the coalition led by it in a position to win a comfortable majority leaving the opposition far behind, said such opinion polls did not matter.

"Surveys come and go, some go in our favour, some do not -- how does it matter?" BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. "We do not really believe in them."

The remark comes amid the Election Commission's move to crack down on opinion and exit polls. The panel has reportedly sought a ban from the law ministry.

The survey, conducted by the newsmagazine The Week and published in its latest issue, forecasts between 230 and 265 seats for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, short of a majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

The India Today survey estimated between 330 and 340 seats for the ruling coalition, while predicting a reduced double-digit tally for the Congress. The Outlook survey put NDA's tally at between 280 and 290 seats.

The NDA had 280 seats in the last Lok Sabha while the Congress had 114.

The BJP general secretary asserted that the party only believed in its own feedbacks and surveys and based its campaign strategies on them.

Its own survey has given 300 plus seats to the BJP from a total of 350 it is contesting across India.

Besides going against a majority of the polls, the Week survey also said the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India-Marxist would win 95 to 110 seats.

India goes to the polls in five phases between April 20 and May 10 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha.