POLITICS
India poll suggests a hung parliament
January 25, 2019 - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fall short of a majority in parliament after the April-May general election, according to a Mood of the Nation survey.
The India Today Group-Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation survey finds the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance is forecast to win 237 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament).
Just a year-and-a-half ago, Modi’s re-election as prime minister was considered a given, but now he is facing public discontent over unemployment and a weak farm economy.
The poll showed the main opposition Congress taking 166 seats and the regional parties together taking 140. The Congress has appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra -- the charismatic sister of its president Rahul Gandhi -- to run the campaign in the eastern half of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, which is critical to the outcome of May’s national elections.
India Today said it conducted face-to-face interviews with 13,179 voters across 97 parliamentary constituencies for its survey.
The survey by ABP News-CVoter finds the BJP and its allies on 233 seats.