High food prices and the impact of a global economic slowdown are the major issues for voters in India's April/May general election, a Reuters poll of 14 leading analysts has predicted. An alliance led by the ruling Congress Party has been losing ground over the past few weeks amid coalition squabbles and may need leftist support to win office, the analysts added. The main battle of the April 16-May 13 election will be between the Congress Party-led coalition, known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Many reforms have often been blocked during the Congress-led government, often due to opposition from former communist allies. A group of smaller political parties, including the communists, have launched a “Third Front” in a bid to provide an alternative to the two main national coalitions. The Third Front has gained ground slowly in the poll over the past three weeks. Congress has struggled to put together its alliance, unable to secure agreements for seat sharing with some key partners in states like Bihar and Tamil Nadu. On average, analysts said there was a 21 percent chance a Congress-led alliance without communist support would win, little changed since last week's poll. There was a 33 percent possibility the Congress would win with communist support, again the same as the previous week. The chance of an NDA victory was 22 percent, down from 23 percent last week. There was a 24 percent possibility of a Third Front government, up two points from last week and five points from the week earlier. Counting in the election will be on May 16. __
