Cong Will Draw A Blank In Odisha, Says Its Internal Party Survey

New Delhi: The Congress will draw a blank in Odisha, news portal The Print has said, quoting an internal survey and conservative estimates by party leaders. This is likely to be the case despite Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s high-pitched campaign in Odisha and promise of a farm loan waiver within 48 hours of forming a government at the Centre.

According to estimates, the party will win 101 seats nation-wide, as against 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Like in 2014, Odisha is unlikely to give the party any seats this time as well.

Rahul campaigned in Odisha four times, making farm loan and the NYAY scheme a central theme of his campaigns. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had accompanied him twice during his visit to the western districts. However, the party’s internal survey says Odisha will give it zero seats, while it might be able to win just one seat in neighbouring Bengal.

In the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is expected to win two seats — one is Amethi from where Rahul is seeking re-election and another is Rai Bareli, where his mother Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election.

The party could get 14 out of Kerala’s 20 seats; 10 each in Karnataka [28], Rajasthan [25], Madhya Pradesh [29], Maharashtra [48] and Punjab [13]; seven in Chhattisgarh [11]; and five each in Gujarat [26] Jharkhand [14] and Tamil Nadu [39].

The party’s conservative figures for other states is three in Bihar [40]; four in Assam [14]; two in Haryana [10]; and one each in Goa [two], Meghalaya [two], and Puducherry [one].

Congress leaders say 101 seats is “the minimum” they are expecting and hope that the tally will go much higher on May 23, when election results are declared, The Print said.