Lok Sabha Polls 2019 | NDA likely to get 13 more seats after Balakot airstrike, tally to reach 283: Survey

Compared to the tally it was expected to get before the IAF strike on terror camps in Pakistan, the BJP-led NDA is now likely to gain 13 more seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, according to a tracker poll conducted by Times Now and VMR.

While the poll conducted between February 5 and 21 gave 270 seats to NDA, the recent poll has estimated the tally to rise to 283 seats in the period February 5 to March 12. On the other hand, the tally of Congress-led UPA is likely to come down from the earlier 152 to 135 in the corresponding period.

While the Balakot airstrike is expected to benefit NDA and affect Congress’ tally, a group of regional parties like BJD, TMC, TDP, TRS and YSRCP and the SP-BSP-RLD alliance could gain four seats.

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The addition of 13 seats in the NDA’s tally is likely to come from states like Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal. From UP only, the BJP-led NDA is expected to gain three seats and is expected to take its tally from 39 to 42 at the expense of SP-BSP-RLD alliance.

In a recent opinion poll conducted by News Nation in Bihar and Jharkhand, 81 per cent of the respondents had opined that the airstrikes carried out by the Indian Air Force on terror camps in Pakistan will benefit the Modi government in the polls.

The recent prediction is in contrast with the previous ones, which were held before the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama which claimed lives of 40 CRPF jawans. The airstrike has been seen as the revenge of the attack. 

The Times Now-VMR survey has further predicted that the NDA may gain two seats each in Madhya Pradesh and Assam and one each in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bihar.

The Modi-led NDA government will be seeking a second term as 900 million people are expected to vote in the Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 23.

Several non-BJP parties like the Congress, SP, BSP, and TMC have joined hands to form a grand coalition 'Mahagathbandhan' to take on Narendra Modi-led NDA in the forthcoming elections.

The polling will be held on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19 for 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country.

In 2014, Modi-led BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 constituencies in the Lok Sabha, handing out a crushing defeat to the 10-year-rule of the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress.