The Hindu

[Chief Administrator]

[Nehru]

Hung Parliament Most Likely
Polls Neck and Neck.

With a general election likely in the coming months, we are most probably heading for another hung parliament. As is the nature of hung parliaments, we shall remain unsure of our next Prime Minister for some time to come.

A poll conducted by ORG-MARG on voting intentions has revelaled the following intention to vote:
Congress and Allies 35% (+6%)
BJP and Allies 34% (+2%)
CPI(M) and Allies 12% (-1%)

The seat tally is projected to be:
BJP and Allies 214 seats (+29)
Congress and Allies 208 seats (-9)
CPI(M) and Allies 52 seats (-8)
Others/Independents 71 seats (-12)
The BJP would be the largest party but well short of a majority. Given that the Congress would be more likely to work better with the Communists, a continuation of the current situation would be most likely.

However, the recent tie-up between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party will have wide ranging ramifications. The Samajwadi Party gets close to 5% of the vote, and if they manage to keep it, the BJP would get very close to a majority and the seat tally would look like this:
BJP and Allies 264 seats (+79)
Congress 188 seats (-29)
CPI(M) and Allies 52 seats (-8)
Others/Independents 41 seats (-42)
However, they would still be tantalisingly short of a majority.

[Nehru]

Communists urge more education and health spending

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India has urged the government to raise spending substantially on education and healthcare. Ms.Rashmi Pradeep said, "Without substantially increases in health and education spending, we would be unlikely to bail the government out this time." She went on to say, "We need action on social justice from this government. Things have gone too far."

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has ruled out voting with the government on the budget as it did last time. Mr.Yadav said, "We are with the BJP, we will vote with them."