TDP, YSR lead in Andhra, AIADMK ahead in Tamil Nadu

Andhra Pradesh is likely to witness a photo finish between the TDP and YSR Congress in the Lok Sabha elections while in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK-Left alliance is likely to end up marginally ahead of DMK, said an election survey Tuesday.

Part two of the CNN-IBN CSDS February election tracker said that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is likely to get 10 to 16 seats in Andhra Pradesh while the YSR Congress may bag 11 to 17 seats. The Congress is expected to end up with 6 to 12 seats, if elections were held now.

It said that in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK-Left alliance is likely to get 14 to 20 seats while the DMK may end up with 10 to 16 seats. The Congress may get between zero to four seats.

"There is no change in AIADMK-Left alliance's vote share since January and it is likely to garner 30 percent vote share. The DMK has seen a jump of 8 percent in the projected vote share since January and may get 26 percent vote share," a release said.

Interestingly, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has seen a surge in his popularity in Tamil Nadu and is preferred by 21 percent of the people for the prime minister's post even though his party vote share has declined by seven percent since January, the survey said.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has witnessed a slight drop from 17 to 16 percent, as the favoured candidate for the job while his party's vote share too has declined by four percent since January, it said.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha is preferred by only eight percent of the voters in Tamil Nadu as the next PM and 45 percent of all AIADMK voters are not enthusiastic about her being named as a PM candidate, it said.

The decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and create a separate state of Telangana seems to have benefitted Congress which is getting the maximum vote share in the region at 32 percent. However, majority of the respondents (30 percent) give the credit to the TRS which may get 26 percent votes, the survey said.

While in Seemandhra region, the YSR Congress is projected to secure 45 percent vote share followed by TDP (33 percent) and Congress (16 percent).

A total of 46 percent Telangana respondents said Congress handled the division of state well; a jump of 15 percent since January, it said.