Pre-poll surveys in Kerala predict sweep by Congress-led front

Thiruvananthapuram, April 11 (IANS) With just five days to go for the Lok Sabha elections, three pre-poll surveys in Kerala predict a sweep by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) but the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is still hopeful of good results.

The first prediction that came out Thursday was The Week-Zee Voter durvey, which said the UDF is likely to win 15 seats and the LDF five.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan responded Friday evening by saying that the party won 18 seats in the 2004 elections and will win all 20 this time.

Hours after Vijayan's statement, the Times of India came out with its survey results, which were on the same lines as The Week-Zee Voter, predicting 15 seats for the UDF and five for the LDF.

Another report based on a pre-poll survey carried out by two market research firms - Thiruvananthapuram-based RGIDS and Kochi-based Sameeksha Research and Analytical Consultancy - predicted 18 seats for the UDF and two for the LDF.

Congress leader Oommen Chandy said he was confident that his party would perform extremely well in the polls.

'We will sweep the polls like in 1977. I speak from the response I got after my tour of all the 20 Lok Sabha seats,' said Chandy.

In 1977, the Congress-led coalition won all the 20 seats but it had the support of the Communist Party of India (CPI) at that time.