One after the other, three opinion polls by media outlets have put the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti clearly ahead of its opponents in the coming Telangana Assembly elections.
But the good news for the Congress is that its president Rahul Gandhi registered higher popularity rating compared to Prime Minister Narendar Modi.
The separate surveys by India Today-Axis, TV5 l-Flash Team and VDP Associates have forecast that TRS will return to power for a second term with overwhelming majority.
While India Today poll has said that the TRS had 43% approval rating against 18% for the Congress and 15% for the TDP, the other two polls have given projections of seats in the 119-member Assembly.
According to the TV5-Flash Team the TRS may bag 90 seats while the Congress will be reduced to 15 seats down from 21 in 2014.
While MIM may retain all its seven seats the survey said that BJP's strength will come down from 5 to 3. Telugu Desam Party had also emerged as a big loser in this poll.
Another interesting finding in TV5 Survey was that 41.33% people in Telangana prefer Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister against only 33.1% supporting Narendra Modi.
Survey by VDP Associate has projected 80 seats for TRS, 20 for Congress, 7 for the BJP and 12 for others.
However, TV5 added an important rider that its survey was conducted before the Congress, TDP and other smaller parties agreed to form a Grand Alliance against the TRS.
But the survey findings were in consonance with the general perception that the TRS was clearly ahead of its rivals. There were also a near consensus that both the BJP and TDP were not in the reckoning. Commenting on the findings of the polls, senior TRS leader K Taraka Rama Rao said, "People of Telangana have made up their mind. It’s KCR Garu again as CM".
The Election Commission is likely to announce the poll schedule for Telangana Assembly anytime next month.