By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress and its allies are expected to win more seats from Maharashtra and Punjab in the Lok Sabha elections, according to an NDTV opinion poll released Wednesday.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are likely to win 30 seats in Maharashtra, up from their current tally of 23, while the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance’s number is expected to come down from 25 to 18 in the state’s 48 seats, the NDTV said in a statement on the poll.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar is the most popular leader in the state, with 28 percent respondents backing him, followed by Sena chief Bal Thackeray (25 percent), former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress (15 percent) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray (12 percent).
While 57 respondents disapproved of the MNS agitation against north Indians in the state, 35 percent termed it as “right”.
In Punjab, the Congress is predicted to improve its tally from the current two seats to eight while the state’s ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine is tipped to see its numbers come down from 11 to five, according to the NDTV-GFK Mode poll.