New Delhi, May 20: An ABP News-Nielsen survey has found that the mood of the nation has decisively turned hostile towards the ruling UPA after nine years in power while the BJP-led NDA is going to be the main beneficiary in case Lok Sabha elections were to be held now.

The survey predicts a sharp fall in the UPA’s overall tally, being reduced to 136 in the House of 543, while the NDA is shown to be surging to 206. The Congress alone had won 206 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections while the BJP got only 116.

In Bihar, the survey delivers an alarming message to chief minister Nitish Kumar, suggesting that the Congress-RJD combine would win 23 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats if the JD(U) parts ways with the BJP.

In that case, the BJP will get only six seats and the JD(U) nine. But if the BJP’s alliance with the JD(U) endures, the combine can win 34 of the 40 seats, leaving the RJD with two seats and the Congress three.

Across the nation, the Congress will suffer a dip of seven per cent in its voteshare though the BJP will gain only one per cent. Parties not aligned with either of the two combinations, UPA and NDA, will get 167 seats, according to the forecast.

The Left has been given 34 seats in the survey, which suggests that corruption and rising prices of essential commodities have hurt the UPA the most.

Only 69 per cent of those who voted for the Congress in the 2009 elections are still intending to vote for it, while 31 per cent have moved away from the party. Of these disillusioned voters, only 12 per cent are going to the BJP, indicating that the regional forces will gain from the Congress’s miseries.

However, contrary to popular perception that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s image has been dented by the scams, the survey shows his ratings are still good. As many as 37 per cent of the respondents rate his performance as good or very good. Another 33 per cent ranked him average, while only 28 per cent believe his performance was poor or very poor.

This indicates that the UPA may suffer for different reasons, but Singh, who has been described by the BJP as the weakest Prime Minister ever, isn’t one of them. But Singh falls just behind Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the popularity stakes.

Asked who the best leader in the country is, 17 per cent of the respondents answered Modi while 16 per cent supported Singh. Modi was at number four in the last survey conducted by Nielsen while Singh ranked first followed by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Now, Rahul’s scores have dipped from 19 per cent to 13 per cent while Sonia’s ratings have fallen from 14 per cent to nine per cent.

The survey predicts the Congress’s downfall across regions, the national capital epitomizing its decline in the most vivid manner.

The Congress, which won all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in 2009, has been shown as being reduced to two, with the BJP wresting five. If this is true, the Sheila Dikshit government. which won three consecutive terms, could well be on its way out in the October-November Assembly elections.

The Congress’s thinking has been that the anti-incumbency votes would get divided between the BJP and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. The survey though has nixed that possibility.

In Maharashtra, ruled by the Congress-NCP combine, the survey gives an edge to the BJP and Shiv Sena even if they contest separately. While they will get 29 seats contesting together, the two parties will manage 28 even if the alliance breaks.

The NCP-Congress will win 16 of the 48 seats if they fight together and 14 if they contest separately.

In Uttar Pradesh, the survey predicts a huge jump for the BJP, 23 seats from 10 in 2009, while the Congress slumps to six from 21. The Samajwadi Party, after winning a landslide in the Assembly elections, will get merely 24 of the total 80 seats while the BSP will get 21 if elections are conducted now.