A survey conducted by C-Fore in Karnataka shows the Congress bettering its tally in the upcoming assembly elections 2018.

The pre-poll survey conducted between March 1 and 25 across 154 assembly constituencies states that the Congress would improve its vote share by 9 per cent and end up with 46 per cent of the vote share.

The survey adds BJP will get 31 per cent of the vote share while the JD(S) will end up with 16 per cent.

The respondents numbering 22,357 voters were spread across 2,368 polling booths covering 326 urban and 977 rural locations. C-Fore had rightly predicted in 2013 that the Congress would win 119-120 seats and it ended up with 122.

The survey gives the Congress 126 seats this year. It says that the BJP will improve its tally with 70 seats. However this would be at the cost of the JD(S) the survey says. The JD(S) is expected to get 27 seats this year when compared to the 40 it bagged in 2013.

The survey says that the Congress would win 19 out of the 28 assembly constituencies in Bengaluru while the BJP would bag nine. In the Old Mysuru region, Congress is projected to win 33, BJP 7, JD (S) 24 and 'others' 1. The JD (S) will win most of its seats from this region, the survey said.

In the Bombay Karnataka region, which has 50 seats, the Congress is expected to win 28 and the BJP 22.

In the Central Karnataka region, the BJP is expected to bag 13 out of the 22 seats while the Congress would bag nine.

The coast is expected to witness an even battle. The Congress would get 10 and the BJP nine. In Hyderabad-Karnataka, the Congress is expected to bag 27 out of the 40 seats while the BJP and JD(S) would get 10 and 3 respectively.

Of the men that were surveyed, 44 per cent backed the Congress while in the case of the BJP it was 33 per cent. The JD(S) got the backing of 6 per cent.

Among the women, 48 were with the Congress and 29 per cent were with the BJP while 14 per cent said they would vote for the JD(S).

The drinking water problem was the main issue raised by the respondents. 32 per cent said drinking water was their main concern. 26 per cent rated the issue at second while 9 per cent said it was their third priority. The other problems included roads, drainage system among others.

45 per cent said that Siddaramaiah was their top preference for Chief Minister. 26 per cent backed B S Yeddyurappa while H D Kumaraswamy got 13 per cent of the vote. 16 per cent chose in the others category.

On the CM's performance, 21 per cent said they were extremely satisfied, while 54 per cent said they were somewhat satisfied. 25 per cent of the respondents said that they were not satisfied.

The c-fore survey has given jubilant mood to Congress party men in karnataka, BJP president taken note of the survey result has blamed Siddaramaiah for splitting hindu votes in the name of caste.