Survey predicts clean sweep for NDA in Assam Assembly polls

New Delhi, Jan 18: As the political parties gear up for the forthcoming Assam Assembly elections, the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is predicted to get majority of the seats, leaving its political opponents far behind, as per the IANS C-Voter Battle for the States survey. The survey has predicted 77 seats for the NDA, 40 for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), seven for the All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), and two for others, including Left parties. The survey included more than 5,000 respondents covering all the 126 Assembly constituencies. Assam is likely to go to the polls in March-April with the Assembly expiring on May 31. The NDA, including the BJP and its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), is expected to face defeat on nine seats as compared to the seats gained in the 2016 elections, the survey revealed. In the last Assembly elections held in 2016, the NDA had won 86 seats. As per the survey, the UPA is set to gain 14 seats while the AIUDF will lose six seats in the upcoming polls as compared to the 2016 Assembly elections. In the earlier Assembly polls, the UPA had won 26 seats while the AIUDF bagged 13 seats. Other political parties are predicted to lose one seat in the polls. The projected range of seat sharing for the NDA is predicted between 73 and 81. For the UPA, it is predicted between 36 and 44, five to nine for the AIUDF and zero to four for other parties. As per the survey, the vote swing is in favour of the NDA with 43.1 per cent projection this time -- 1.2 per cent gain from 2016 when it was 41.9 per cent. The UPA's vote share projection is predicted at 34.9 per cent -- 3.9 per cent better than the previous Assembly elections when it was 31 per cent. The AIUDF is expected to witness a loss of 4.8 per cent vote share this time, which is projected as 8.2 per cent from 13 per cent in 2016. (IANS)