Political heat is at its peak in West Bengal, which braces for the next Assembly Elections to be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. While the fight is mostly between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP in the eastern state, the Left and the Congress are also in the fray.
As the campaign gains pace, the question that dominates the state is whether Trinamool will retain power or will the BJP finally wrest the state? Most opinion polls say that the fight is mostly between the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP.
According to the Votevibe-CNN-News18 survey, the Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is likely to form the government for the fourth time. The survey says that the Trinamool Congress is likely to win around 184 to 194 seats out of the 294 assembly seats. That is, much more than the number of seats required to form the government (148).
On who most people preferred as the Chief Minister, the majority of 48.5 per cent of respondents chose Mamata Banerjee. On the other hand, 33.4 per cent of respondents preferred Suvhendu Adhikari as the Chief Minister.
The public opinion survey has revealed that the Trinamool may get 41.9 percent of the votes in the next assembly elections, while the BJP may get 34.9 percent of the votes. The small parties are unlikely to make any impact in the elections.
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On the other hand, the Matrix-IANS survey has a slightly different picture. According to this survey, Trinamool can get 155 to 170 seats, and BJP can get 100 to 115 seats. The survey predicts that even if Trinamool wins, the margin may be reduced compared to the previous elections. BJP is clearly emerging as a big contender here.
In terms of vote percentage, the Matrix-IANS survey says that Trinamool may get 43-45 per cent votes, while BJP may get between 41-43 percent. That is, the difference in votes is not very much.