Bengaluru: A survey conducted in Karnataka has shown that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the most popular choice of the voters in the state to the post of the CM. However, it is said that the survey was reportedly commissioned by the Congress.
A pre-poll survey conducted by C-Fore states that an overwhelming 45 per cent of the people said that incumbent CM of Karnataka was their first preference for the post of the CM in the upcoming polls as well. While 26 per cent voted for BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa, 13 per cent preferred HD Kumaraswamy. Another 16 per cent opted for ‘others’.
In yet another major breather to the Congress party, which has witnessed some bitter defeats in various states of the country, the survey pointed that the Congress will not only return to power in Karnataka but will also end up improving its tally in the 224-member Legislative Assembly. The Congress will improve its vote share by 9% and end up with 46% of the vote. BJP, the survey said, will have 31% of the vote and JD (S) will have 16%.
The survey was conducted between March 1 and 25 and as many as 22,357 voters across 154 assembly constituencies were taken as samples. In 2013, C-Fore had predicted that the Congress would end up winning 119-120 seats and it ended up with 122.
The Congress won 122 seats in the 2013 polls and this year, the survey gave 126 seats to the ruling party of the state. The BJP, too, will improve its tally in the House but at the expense of the JD (S) and not that of the Congress. The BJP is predicted to win 70 seats this year, compared to 40 in 2013. The JD (S) tally will drop from 40 to 27. ‘Others’ are expected to get only 1 seat and a vote share of 7%.
As far as the burning issue of religious status being granted to Lingayat community is concerned, romping 61 per cent said that they were with the decision of the state government, while 32 per cent said they were against it and seven per cent said they had ‘no opinion’.
Categorically, 65 per cent of BPL respondents, 64 per cent of farmers and 28 per cent of women said that the Congress party had worked the maximum for them. It means while the BPL respondents and the farmers sided with the Congress, the women voters sided with the BJP.
On the other hand even 74% Dalit voters, 57% backward caste voters and 67% Scheduled Tribe voters said the Congress had done the most work for their respective communities. 56% of all respondents felt the BJP was responsible for the Rs 12,000 crore PNB scam and Nirav Modi’s subsequent escape.
On demonetisation, respondents were evenly split with 48% supporting it and 52% opposing it. On the other hand, 64% thought the GST regime had been implemented poorly and was responsible for economic slowdown.
