Published 20:50 IST, December 24th 2018
National Approval Ratings: BJP Or Congress? Here's the national picture on who might win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
A lot has changed in the political landscape within the country since the November edition of the National Approval Ratings, in particular, the wind once again catching in the sails of the Congress
A lot has changed in the political landscape within the country since the November edition of the National Approval Ratings, in particular, the wind once again catching in the sails of the Congress which has formed state governments in the Hindi Heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, creating a Blue-belt across what had up till then begun to look like an all-Saffron map of India. Post those elections, the National Approval Ratings published by Republic TV and CVoter have captured the mood of the nation, answering the question: What would happen if elections were held today?
Seat-share:
While in the 2014 General elections the BJP had registered a majority seat-share of 282 on its own, in the December edition of the National Approval Ratings, the BJP is projected to win just 218 seats, the result being that the larger NDA, also including JDU, LJP, Apna Dal and others, is projected to lose its majority with 247 seats in the 543-member lower house.
On the other hand, the Congress, which won just 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, is projected to win 105 seats, helping the UPA reach a projected seat-share tally of 171. In this effort, the DMK may emerge as the Congress' most influential ally, winning 30 seats in Tamil Nadu.
Other non-aligned (currently) parties, meanwhile, are projected to win 125 seats, bolstered predominantly by a 50-seat-projection for the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh.
Vote-share:
In terms of vote-share, the NDA is projected to rack up 37.7% votes, while the UPA is projected to get 32.8%
The December edition of the National Approval Ratings entails a big change in comparison to the November edition. In November, the NDA was projected to win 261 seats versus 247 in the December projection. Meanwhile, the UPA was projected to win 119 seats in November versus 171 in December. The other parties, meanwhile, were projected to win 163 seats. However, DMK has joined the UPA since then and is projected to give the alliance a big fillip.
Here are the National Approval Ratings for each state in order of the number of seats represented in the Lok Sabha:
Updated 21:53 IST, December 24th 2018