With the Lok Sabha election dates scheduled to be announced on Saturday, March 16, the big question on everyone's minds is whether the last-minute price cuts for LPG cylinders, petrol, and diesel will work for the BJP-led NDA. While election-time "gifts" to people are not unheard of, this year it will be particularly important as they come in a week that is witness to several important developments, such as the release of electoral bonds data. ABP Network, in association with CVoter, has tried to gauge the voters' pulse in its latest Opinion poll.


ALSO READ | Centre Slashes Petrol & Diesel Prices By Rs 2 After LPG Relief


In a survey that involved 41,762 respondents, eligible voters were asked: "Do you think that reducing the price of gas cylinders will benefit the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections?" To this, 49.3% of the surveyed individuals responded in the affirmative. As many as 62.5% of NDA supporters and 36.1% of respondents who backed the Opposition replied with a "Yes". 


As many as 33.2% of the total respondents said the move will not help the BJP. While 44.4% of the Opposition backers were sure that the move would not work for the party in power, 22% of the NDA supporters believed that it would.


When asked "if prices of petrol and diesel can be reduced before the elections to reduce inflation", 54.4% of the respondents said "yes" and 21.3% said "no". While 48.7% of those who supported the Opposition responded in the affirmative, 24% replied "no". Among the NDA supporters, 60.1% said that petrol and diesel prices can be slashed before polls to curb inflation and 18.6% believed otherwise.


ALSO READ | Ahead Of Polls, Domestic LPG Gets Rs 100 Price-Cut On Women's Day 


When asked if the price cuts for LPG, petrol, and diesel are being effected because of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,  63.8% of the total respondents said "Yes", while 20.1% said they did not think so. 


[Disclaimer: Current survey findings and projections are based on CVoter Opinion Poll Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) conducted among 41,762 adults, all confirmed voters. The surveys were conducted from February 1 to March 10, 2024. The data is weighted to the known demographic profile of the States. Sometimes the table figures do not sum to 100 due to the effects of rounding. The final data file has socio-economic profile within +/- 1% of the Demographic profile of the states. We believe this will give the closest possible trends. The sample spread is across all 543 electoral constituencies in the country. The margin of error is +/- 5% and the vote share projections have been done with 95% confidence interval.]