PTI

NEW DELHI, Sep 9: The UPA will move very close to majority on its own while Left parties will suffer marginal losses and NDA will put up a poor show compared to its performance in 2004 if pre-term Lok Sabha elections are to be held, says an opinion poll conducted for CNN-IBN news channel.

The poll, conducted across 23 states with a sample size of 18,000 voters, projects the ruling alliance winning on 267 seat as against the 222 seats it secured in the 2004 elections. The majority mark is 272.

The Left parties, which had secured 55 seats in the previous elections, will see a decline in their tally to 43, while NDA will have to be content with 133 seats as against 189 in the last poll, according to the poll conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for CNN-IBN in association with 'The Indian Express'.

The survey said the projected UPA tally of 267 was a decline from the 300 seats they had predicted for the ruling alliance in an opinion poll conducted in January this year.

The NDA will improve its performance from the 115 seats predicted for it in January to 133 in the event of snap polls, they said.

According to the poll, BSP will win 35 seats as against the 18 it has in the present House.

While NDA allies were found to be holding firm in the states they currently rule (Orissa, Bihar and Punjab), BJP could be slipping significantly in the states where it was in power, the opinion poll said.

The findings suggest that as against the 40 seats the BJP's allies hold in the Lok Sabha, they are likely to win 43 if elections were held now.

In Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi still appeared to be on a firm wicket with 56 per cent of the state's respondents preferring him to Congress.