Close fight in Himachal Pradesh, BJP sweep in Rajasthan?

NEW DELHI: The BJP and its allies could achieve a near clean sweep in Rajasthan, a dominant showing in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi, while having the edge in Haryana and Punjab. In Himachal Pradesh, it could be a neck and neck battle between the Congress and BJP, an opinion poll done for a TV channel predicted.

The poll done by CSDS for CNN-IBN made seat projections for UP and Delhi but only vote share projections for the other northern states. According to the projections, the BJP-Apna Dal combine could win 42 to 50 seats of the 80 in India's largest state. The SP and BSP could be fighting for a distant second slot, with SP's tally projected at 11-17 and BSP's at 10-16. The Congress-RLD alliance may end up with 4-8 seats and others with 0-2, the poll suggested.

In Rajasthan, the poll predicts that the BJP will win at least 21 of the 25 seats and may even get a clean sweep. In Delhi, the BJP is projected to win 3-4 of the seven seats, AAP 2-3 and Congress none or at best one. Interestingly, the survey suggests that BJP could win 40% of votes, AAP just 29% and Congress 22%.

In Punjab, where some polls have suggested Congress has the edge, the CNN-IBN poll differs by giving the BJP-Akali alliance 42% of the votes compared to 29% for Congress-PPP. It however did not predict who would win how many seats.

Similarly, in Haryana, while the BJP-Haryana Janhit Congress alliance is shown as getting 36% of the votes compared to 30% for Congress and 16% for INLD, no seat projections were made.

In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP and Congress are both predicted to win about 45% of the votes but no seat tallies were forecast.