The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government continues to slip and is likely to move further away from the magic simple majority mark after the fourth and final phase of polling on May 10, an NDTV-Indian Express opinion poll said on Friday.

However, a Star News-C-voter poll gave the alliance a better chance of securing a majority, giving it 267-279 seats in the 14th Lok Sabha.

The NDTV-IE poll gave the Congress and its allies 171-183 seats and others 85-97. It pegged the NDA tally at 240-260. The NDTV exit poll after the third round of polling had given the alliance 245-265 seats.

The survey showed the Congress and allies moving ahead with 190-210 seats as against the 185-205 given by the NDTV's exit poll projections on May 5.

The opinion poll showed the BJP-led alliance and the Congress with its allies finishing almost at par -- 67 and 68 seats
respectively -- as far as their share of 182 seats up for grabs in the final phase of polling goes.

It showed BJP making marginal gains in the final phase in Uttar Pradesh by securing nine of the 18 seats, a gain of two over 1999, and the Congress suffering a major setback, getting just two seats, a loss of four from the previous election.

It gave four seats to the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Loktantrik Dal alliance and three to the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the overall scenario in UP, the NDTV opinion poll projects BJP finishing on top with 31 seats, followed by SP (21), BSP (17) and Congress (10), one less than in 1999.

According to the poll, the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala is likely to finish with 14 out of a total of 20 seats, a gain of three seats over 1999, whereas others (apparent reference to Left Democratic Front) will get six seats, a loss of three.

In a re-run of the 1999 election, the ruling Left Front in West Bengal is likely to bag 29 of the total of 42 seats, while the Trinamool Congress-BJP alliance will get ten and Congress just three.

The opinion poll shows BJP suffering a sharp fall in Delhi from all the seven seats in 1999 to just three this time.

In Madhya Pradesh, the saffron surge continues, the poll says and gives the BJP 15 of the 29 seats in the final phase.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance will get 30 of the 39 seats in the state, with the All India Anna DMK-BJP combine finishing a poor second with just nine, the poll says. For DMK and allies, it represents a gain of 17 seats and a decline of 17 for the rival alliance.

The poll shows the Congress making major gains in Haryana, winning six of the 10 seats, a gain of six.

The Star News-Telegraph-Dainik Bhaskar-C-Voter opinion poll conducted in 135 of the 182 constituencies, which go to polls on May 10, gives the BJP-led NDA 62-70 seats, the Congress and its allies 62-70 seats and 'others' 48-56 seats.

The poll says in Uttar Pradesh, where voting will take place in 18 Lok Sabha constituencies on May 10, the BJP is likely to win 10 seats, a gain of six from 1999. The Congress and its allies and the Samajwadi Party are likely to get three seats each, with BSP taking two and one seat going to others.

The poll says the NDA will suffer a major setback in Tamil Nadu where the DMK-Congress alliance is expected win 30 of the 39 seats.

The NDA is not expected to open its account in Kerala, where it continues to be a race between the Congress and the Left.

In West Bengal, the poll says, the Left is expected to improve its tally, winning two seats more than in 1999.

In Delhi, the poll gives four seats to the BJP and three to the Congress.