NEW DELHI: A Congress(I) sponsored Opinion poll has predicted that India’s ruling party will lose the Assembly election in U.P, the biggest state in the country which had been sending prime ministers,

The survey was carried out by the MRAS Burke combine and was based on 40,000 interviews in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The ruling party is running neck to neck in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, according to the study. The study gives only 4050 seats in U,P. as against the BJP’s 200220 seats. In Rajasthan and Dethi also, the two parties are running neck to neck, according to the study.

In Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh the Congress (I) is expected to poll 4547% of the votes while the BJP in the two states is likely to get4345%. Surprisingly, in Himachal Pradesh the Kashmir issue is lurking in the minds of the people much more than any other issue, the State being the disputed territory’s next door.

The Ram temple issue does not appear to be creating waves in all the states, At least half of the respondents want the temple to be built at the disputed site but others want both the temple and the masjid to be raised at Ayodhya.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 29, 1993