SP, BSP in two-horse race for UP

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Projection of another hung Assembly will not surprise any UP watcher. The last time any party got a clear majority in an Assembly election was in 1991.

Politics of caste polarisation, absence of fresh agenda and impossible personal egos have closed the possibility of a stable majority in the state.

The run up to this Assembly election promised something different as the BSP took an early lead. It appeared that Mayawati’s experiment of forging a dalit-upper caste alliance was opening the possibility of a majority. But a comprehensive pre-poll survey conducted at the starting point of the race almost rules out this possibility.

The Indian Express-CNN-IBN-CSDS pre-poll survey of Uttar Pradesh points to a two-horse-race that is likely to end in yet another hung Assembly.

If the Assembly elections were held in the entire state in the third week of March, the SP and the BSP would have been the front-runners, leaving all others far behind. Surprisingly, the ruling SP was marginally ahead of the BSP by about one percentage point and was likely to end where it was last time, around 145-155 seats. The BSP appeared set for its best ever performance, but well short of the magical figure of 202 seats. It was likely to end between 140-150 seats.

The BJP and the Congress are in the danger of falling off the chart. Despite getting Kalyan Singh back and its carefully crafted alliance with the Apna Dal, the BJP was a poor third in the race, about 10 percentage points behind the two front-runners. This could bring the BJP down to about 45-55 seats, its worst performance in the last two decades.

The Congress too does not appear to be in a position to translate its potential support into votes and was not placed any better than its worst-ever show in 2002. The remaining 30-40 seats were likely to go to others and independents including Ajit Singh’s RLD and Raj Babbar’s Jan Morcha.

If this is what indeed happens in the elections, the SP gets the first shot at forming the government. But having burnt its bridges with the BSP and the Congress, it might need to enter into a coalition with the BJP and risks its Muslim vote base.

The BSP would need support from the Congress and all other parties or from the BJP and some others to form the government. The BJP may hold a pivotal position in the exercise of government formation.

But don’t take out your calculators right away. For this is not a forecast of what the election result will be on May 11 when the votes are finally counted. This is only a projection of how the race stood at its starting point. At that point, about 10 per cent of the voters had not even heard about the ensuing elections. Most of the voters did not know their candidates.

About a quarter said that the candidate could make a difference to their choice.

Also remember Punjab and Uttarakhand, where the ruling party appeared stronger in pre-poll assessments than in the actual results.

And finally, let us not forget that every single poll projection in UP in the last decade has under-estimated the BSP.

In a close race like this, an error or a shift of two to three percentage points can make all the difference. Opinion poll, including a comprehensive and randomised poll like this one, cannot to relied upon to pick such small gaps and movements.

Here is what can make a difference between now and the counting day:

• Lower OBC and Muslim voters are not so firm in their choice as yet and could swing closer to the election day.
• The Congress stands to gain if the voters, especially the Muslim voters, shift from their first preference to their second preference.
• Voters are generally unhappy with their sitting MLA. This local level incumbency disadvantage could hurt the SP that has the largest number of sitting MLAs.
• The poll was done before Rahul Gandhi’s road shows began. If his popularity goes up, it can help the Congress marginally.
• More than a quarter of those interviewed said they were not very sure of whether they will vote at all. UP tends to have very low turnout and a differential pattern of non-voting could prove critical.
• The poll may have under-estimated parties like the Apna Dal and Jan Morcha that do not have a fixed symbol.

In other words, you need to wait for the extensive exit-cum-post poll survey that the Indian Express – CNN-IBN – CSDS team plans to carry out. Or, perhaps, for May 11 if you wish to get your arithmetic right.

(Conducted by Sanjay Kumar, Rajeeva Karandikar and Yogendra Yadav)

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