The CSU, the sister party of Kohl's Christian Democrats, retained power in the second populous state of Bavaria where it has been ruling since the 1960s, securing 52 per cent of the vote on Sunday and keeping its absolute majority intact.

Opinion polls continue to show that the opposition Social Democrats of Gerhard Schroeder is ahead of the ruling coalition in the September 27 elections but political analysts say the Bavarian results indicate it is not all over for Kohl.

More than half of the estimated 60 million voters are yet to make up their minds, analysts said.

Expectedly, the Social Democrats which campaigned extensively under Schroeder dismissed the Bavarian result as a local phenomenon with no meaning for thenational elections. The CSU's strong showing reflected the popularity of the Bavarian premier and CSU leader Edmund Stoiber rather than Kohl, SPD leaders said.

The Bavarian elections, which are seen as the last test of voters sentiment before the national vote, saw the Social Democrats scoring 29 per cent of the votes falling short of expectations fuelled by the party's continuing lead in opinion polls on a national level.

But Schroeder, who is attempting to pin down Kohl on the unemployment issue, said he would prevail upon the chancellor despite his party's ``disappointing'' results in Bavaria.

Unemployment in Germany, which stood at roughly around 4.2 million, has been the main electoral plank of Social Democrats though Kohl has taken credit for the gradual decrease in unemployment which the chancellor said would go below the politically important benchmark of four million in the next two months.

Edmumd Stoiber said the Bavarian result showed a clear turnaround in voter sentiment that would favourthe CDU and CSU and sending a strong signal for the coalition partners at the national level.

Addressing a news conference today, Kohl said the Bavarian results are the surest indicator that yet the last two weeks before the polls would greatly help him in proving the opinion polls wrong.

The Social Democrats made light of the outcome saying Stoiber won by keeping his distance from Kohl and attacking the chancellor's pet project, the euro -- the single pan European currency -- besides stressing that chancellor made ``no impact'' in Bavaria.

The CSU has governed Bavaria with an absolute majority since 1962 and been part of every post-war government even as political commentators said dropping below the 50 per cent threshold would have dealt a crushing blow to CSU's prestige and to Kohl's re-election campaign.