National Approval Ratings: With 2 seats up for grabs in Goa, Congress and BJP projected to acquire one seat each

With the Lok Sabha elections 2019 inching closer, Republic TV and CVoter have presented the National Approval Ratings to give complete national picture as to who will win if polls are held in September 2018. With 2 seats up for grabs in Goa and Manohar Parekar taking ill, there is a lot of anticipation as to Goa’s fate. As of now, it seems as though out of the 2 seats, 1 will go to the BJP and the other to the Congress so the Parekar factor may be of some impact for the BJP. Take a look:

• While the BJP’s voteshare is slated to decline by 9.4%  in the state, the Congress is set to get in terms of voteshare by 1.1%. However, interestingly, it is the smaller regional parties in Goa which are classified as “Others” in this projection which is likely to see a big chnge in voteshare-- perhaps, even a direct transfer of voteshare from the BJP to the Other’s bucket
• The projected 1 seat for BJP and 1 Congress status would mean going back to the seat sharing mechanism of 2009 and 2004, where the both the Congress and the BJP held equal number of seats. Interestingly, in 1999, the BJP had swept both the seats in Goa but had to concede a seat to the Congress while fighting for a second term in 2004. The projections we have before us, appear to be a repeat of the the BJPs 2004 performance

FACTOID: Since 1999, every time the Goa seats have split between the Congress and the BJP, it is the Congress which has won at the centre. While that may be a statistic, with just 2 seats at play it will be hard to take it as. a referendum.

Read: National Approval Ratings LIVE | BJP or Congress: Who will win if elections are held today?

2018 has been a blockbuster year so far as far as the political landscape of India is concerned. While BJP managed to form government in 3 states this year, either in alliance or on its own, gaining a massive lead over the Opposition, the Congress, by forming government in Karnataka by tying up with the JDS, saved itself from being out of power in all large states, save for Punjab. Out of 4 states, which went to polls this year, BJP has its government on its own in Tripura and with alliance partners in two states, namely, Meghalaya (with National People’s Party), Nagaland (with Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party), whereas the Congress managed to form government in Karnataka with JDS as its alliance partner.

The results of 2019 Lok Sabha elections may or may not reflect the results or scenarios of the state assembly elections, nevertheless, to establish where we stand at present, Republic TV and CVoter has presented the National Approval Ratings.