BJP May Lose Punjab, Gain in Four States in 2017 Polls: Survey

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may lose the important electoral battlefield of Punjab in the assembly polls to be held in 2017, according to a survey conducted by India Today-Axis Opinion Poll.

However, the party may win a majority in the remaining four states of Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, the survey states. For the survey, a sample of 37,866 voters was taken. Except Punjab, where the Congress is expected to sweep the elections, the rest four are expected to see the BJP making huge gains. In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati’s BSP is likely to bag 115-124 seats, the incumbent Samajwadi Party is expected to win 94-103 seats in polls for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The Congress led by Sheila Dikshit would trail a distant fourth, the survey states.

About 91 per cent in UP, 90 per cent in Uttarakhand and 79 per cent in Punjab said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged stronger as a result of the surgical strikes. Will the surgical strikes help the BJP electorally? About 67 per cent polled in UP say yes, as do 76 per cent in Uttarakhand. However, in Punjab 60 per cent think the strikes have not helped the ruling party's chances. Punjab in particular is crucial for the BJP as it has been ruling the state since a decade with the support of the Akalis.