A Star News-ACNielsen poll has shown that the Bharatiya Janata Party is slightly ahead of its rivals in Uttar Pradesh, where the opinion poll predicted a hung Assembly.

The poll also said that the ruling Samajwadi Party is on the decline in the state.

31.6 per cent of respondents said that the performance of the state government was average.

For the chief minister's post, 33.3 per cent felt that Mayawati was the best.

Also, most respondents -- 66.1 per cent � said they are not likely to vote for the SP due to Amitabh Bachchan.

Interstingly, while 56 per cent of respondents said that they have not seen the advertisements featuring Amitabh Bachchan, among those who had seen it 71.6 per cent said they did not believe 'UP mein dum hai.'

The poll was conducted between March 9 and March 21. The first phase of the Assembly elections will be on April 7.

The sample size of the survey was 35,000.

#          Party    Vote Share %   Seats    Swing v/s 2002

1          BJP +                 21.3       98                       0.5      

2          BSP                    25.6     135                       2.6      

3          SP                         23      105                     -2.5     

4          Congress              9.6        27                       0.7      

5          Others                20.5        38                     -1.3     

Total                                100      403                 

Performance of the State Government?

Very Poor        7.6      

Poor              28.0    

Average         31.3    

Good             25.3    

Very Good      5.7      

Can't say         2.0      

Best Chief Minister for Uttar Pradesh? 

Mayawati         33.3    

Mulayam Singh 31.5    

Kalyan Singh     13       

Rajnath Singh   7.9      

Rahul Gandhi    6.9      

Others              4.9      

Can't say          2.5      

Better Youth Leader?  

Rahul Gandhi    60.7    

Akhilesh Yadav 15.4    

Refused              3.1      

Can't say 20.8    

Likely to vote for the SP because of Amitabh Bachchan?          

Yes      12.1    

No       66.1    

Can't say 21.8    

Have you seen Amitabh's advertisements on UP?         

Yes      26.4    

No       57.2    

Can't say 16.4    

Do you agree with Amitabh that 'UP mein apradh kum hai'?      

Yes      25.0    

No       71.6    

Can't say 3.4