ABP-CVoter Survey: Should Priyanka Gandhi Contest Against PM Modi From Varanasi? What Voters Say

A majority of respondents from among a cross-section of voters nodded in the affirmative when asked if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should mark her electoral foray against PM Narendra Modi.

While the former Congress stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh has once again been thrust into the spotlight after a claim by the party’s state chief Ajay Rai that Rahul Gandhi would contest the Lok Sabha seat next year, could the grand old party pit another of its heavyweights, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi next year?

According to a survey conducted by ABP-CVoter, a majority of respondents from among a cross-section of voters nodded in the affirmative when asked if the Congress general secretary should mark her electoral foray against the BJP’s biggest poll mascot from the prestigious Varanasi Lok Sabha seat next year.

As per the survey, 39.6 per cent of the respondents, including both the NDA and Opposition voters, said Priyanka should contest against PM Modi from the prized seat next year.

However, 36.7 per cent of the respondents opined against the Congress pitting an electoral greenhorn against the BJP stalwart.

As much as 44.3 per cent of the Opposition voters surveyed spoke in favour of the Congress general secretary contesting against Prime Minister Modi while a further 31.8 per cent voters opined that she should not risk marking her electoral debut against the sitting Varanasi MP.

Further, according to the survey, 32.5 per cent of the NDA voters surveyed spoke in favour of the Congress pitting Priyanka against PM Modi.

However, a majority 44.1 per cent NDA voters opined against what could be one of the key electoral battles to watch out for should Priyanka throw her hat into the ring from Varanasi.

Significantly however, 23.7 per cent of the respondents, combining both the NDA and Opposition voters, said they ‘don’t know’ or ‘can’t say anything’ to whether Priyanka should pit herself against PM Modi from the prized Varanasi seat next year.

Of the NDA voters, 23.4 per cent chose the ‘don’t know’ or ‘can’t say anything’ option when questioned on whether Priyanka should contest against Modi.

A slightly higher percentage — 23.9 per cent — of Opposition voters responded similarly to the same question.

Significantly, there were speculations around Priyanka contesting against PM Modi from Varanasi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, the Congress eventually decided against putting her in the fray.

[Disclaimer: Current survey findings and projections are based on CVoter personal interviews conducted among 4097 adults. Sometimes the table figures do not sum to 100 due to the effects of rounding. MoE is +/- 3% at macro level and +/- 5% at micro level.]