An opinion poll conducted by a television channel has indicated a clear majority for the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, due to kick off in less than a fortnight.
Out of 224 seats in the state, the Congress is projected to take 114 seats, a "slender but clear majority", gaining 49 seats over the 2004 assembly elections, the poll says.
The poll predicts a major setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is hoping to capture power in the state, as it projects the party winning only 60 seats, a decline of 19 seats for it from last time around.
However, 27 per cent of the electorate polled in the survey prefer BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa as the next chief minister.
Significantly, the BJP has been calculated only on the basis of the party's seats, as it is going alone this time, while in 2004 it had an alliance with Janata Dal-United.
Janata Dal-Secular is indicated as getting only 37 seats, 21 short of its tally in 2004.
The poll also suggests that the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is contesting all seats, would secure only two per cent of the votes while the JD-U would win even less than the BSP.
The poll by CNN-IBN along with Deccan Herald and CSDS took opinions of over 5,124 registered voters across the state on their voting preference if "elections were to take place tomorrow."