State News And Discussion - 3

[Guest]

[url="http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-congress-will-be-deavstated-in-up-polls-says-secret-survey/20110208.htm"]Cong will be devastated in UP, says secret survey[/url]

In a stunning discovery, the Congress finds itself losing ground in India's most populous state. While Rahul Gandhi tries hard to rebuild the party in the Hindi heartland, a survey commissioned by the party paints a very grim picture of the future.



A survey conducted to gauge the mood of the electorate in Uttar Pradesh has shaken up the top leadership of Congress like never before. The writing is on the wall: the Congress will hopelessly lose Uttar Pradesh to Mayawati.



If elections are held today, Mayawati will become chief minister again with a larger majority.

In a likely repeat of Bihar, the Congress party is poised to drop to single digit with an all time low figure of 9 seats out of 405 in the UP assembly elections, scheduled to be held in 2012, according to a comprehensive survey commissioned by the party. Uttar Pradesh, the most crucial state for the Congress and the Gandhi family, is showing radical preferences.



In spite of party general secretary Digvijay Singh's hyper activism to create a loyal Muslim vote bank for the party, Muslims in UP seem to have decided to ditch Congress en-masse. In spite of Rahul Gandhi's frequent visits to Dalit homes, they are just not ready to ditch Maywati yet.

..



While the survey shows the Congress slipping to fourth position, the Bharatiya Janata Party is at the second position with 72 seats while the Samajwadi party is at 40 seats -- but only if it has an alliance with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal, which is at 13 seats, bettering even the Congress party's tally.