BJP likely to outshine Congress in Gujarat, predicted to win 21 of 26 seats: Opinion poll

Despite witnessing a downfall in its performance as compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP – riding the ‘Modi wave’ is likely to win 21 out of 26 seats in Gujarat in the upcoming general elections, according to an opinion poll conducted by News Nation.

As per the data gathered during the survey, the BJP may win 21 seats while the Congress, despite putting up a good show in the 2017 state Assembly elections, will win only five seats.

The data shows a downfall in the saffron party’s performance as compared to 2014 when it had claimed victory on all 26 seats in the state.

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In terms of vote share too, the BJP is expected to witness a fall in PM Modi’s home state with the former garnering 49 per cent of the total votes and the Congress 41 per cent.

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP received 1,52,49,243 votes with a whopping vote share of 60.11 per cent, while the Congress was able to garner 84,86,083 votes in the state with a vote share of 33.45 per cent.

As per the opinion poll, a massive 61 per cent of the respondents said they want to see Narendra Modi continue as the prime minister while just 30 per cent voted in favour of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Also, 63 per cent of the respondents said they there is no match to PM Modi's stature, while 33 per cent disagreed on this.

Responding to question on the overall performance of NDA government at the Centre, 51 per cent of the participants votes in favour of the Modi government while 37 per cent voted against it.

A nationwide opinion poll conducted by the News Nation last month had predicted victory on 270 of the 543 seats for the BJP while the Congress will win on 134 seats.

While the opinion poll has estimation victory on 21 seats for the BJP, the final results on May 23 may vary from the prediction.

Despite being able to retain power in the state, the 2017 state Assembly elections had turned out to be eye-opener for the BJP. The BJP was able to win 99 seats in the 182-member strong Assembly. It was for the first time that the party failed to touch the 100-seat mark in the Assembly.  

Political experts believed that major policy changes made by the Centre, including demonetisation and GST, were the reasons of distress among the people.

56 per cent respondents of the opinion poll have also said that the decision of demonetisation has affected the nation’s economy.  

Here are some other key findings from the opinion poll survey carried out in Gujarat:

• Are you satisfied with the NDA government’s performance in terms of creating employment opportunities? YES – 50 per cent, NO – 44 per cent

• Are you satisfied with the NDA government’s performance in terms on curbing corruption? YES – 55 per cent, NO – 39 per cent

• What will be the biggest issue while voting for 2019 Lok Sabha elections? Inflation – 18 per cent,  Prime Ministerial Face – 18 per cent, Note Ban and GST – 15 per cent, Employment – 14 per cent, Corruption – 8 per cent, Farming Issues – 6 per cent

• Are you satisfied with the NDA government’s performance in strengthening economy? YES – 56 per cent, NO – 33 per cent

• 60 per cent of respondents said there is no concrete allegation of corruption against the Narendra Modi government. 34 per cent disagreed with the claim.

• Is there any veracity in the charges levelled by Rahukl Gandhi on Modi government over the Rafale deal? YES – 38 per cent, NO – 49 per cent

• 57 per cent of respondents said Modi government’s focus is on development while 38 per cent said it is focused on politics.