The survey, copies of which were released today, has also found that Kargil and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will be the two main vote catchers for the BJP.

The opinion poll, conducted in 71 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 16 major states, indicates that the BJP will manage to secure around 200 seats on its own strength, while with the help of its allies, the tally will be in the vicinity of 279 to 289, enough to form a government with a majority.

Another interesting indicator in the poll survey is that for the first time since Independence, the Congress will be overtaken by another party (BJP) in terms of the total vote share. This means that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the country in terms of vote share, polling 27.5 percent compared to the Congress which will come down to 23.85 per cent.

The poll predicts a tally of around 152 to 162 seats for the Congress and its allies while it gives the Third Front, comprising the four Left parties, Samajwadi Party, TMC, BSP and AGP, a tally of around 63 to 68 seats. Others, including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the TDP and four smaller parties are likely to get between 34 and 39 seats.

The poll says the vote of 1999 will be a vote for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee: 51 per cent of those polled felt Vajpayee was best suited to lead the country.

In terms of vote share, the survey predicts that the BJP and its allies will poll 39.15 per cent of the votes, a swing of 1.95 per cent in their favour compared to the 1998 elections while the Congress and its allies will get 31.15 per cent share of the vote, a rise in 1.49 per cent from the 1998 elections. The worst-affected will be the Third Front whose vote share will be reduced to 17.53 per cent compared to 21.93 per centin 1998.

Other findings of the survey, conducted by interviewing 10,650 voters across the country, include 34 per cent of the respondents saying the handling of the Kargil conflict was ``very good'' while 52 per cent felt the conflict would definitely benefit the BJP in the elections. But as many as 44 per cent of the respondents felt the Prime Minister's Lahore bus yatra was a failure.