The Left Front may lose heavily while Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party can emerge as a big gainer if snap polls are held now, according to a survey conducted by a leading English magazine.
The survey, conducted by The Week, predicts that the United Progressive Alliance may secure 172 to 192 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha. The National Democratic Alliance can win as many as 178 to 198 seats while the Third Front can notch up to 44 to 54 seats.
The share of the four Left parties, which are in the midst of a stand-off with the central government about the India-United States nuclear agreement, may drop drastically to 38 to 48 seats from their present tally of 59 seats. Communist Party of India-Marxist alone holds 43 seats, while the Communist Party of India has ten seats in the present Lok Sabha.
The Bahujan Samaj Party, which swept to power in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, may even end up tripling its number of seats. The BSP, which currently holds 18 seats in the Lok Sabha, can secure up to 44 to 55 seats, states the survey.
The survey further predicts that a coalition between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati, along with the support of smaller parties, could diminish the clout enjoyed by the CPI-M