New Delhi: The Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) have announced their list of candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly election next month.
ABP-C-Voter survey sought to understand how people feel now that the election schedule has also been announced. 1,397 respondents participated in this survey.
As per the survey, 47.2 per cent of male respondents and 50.5 per cent of females feel that BJP has the largest number of winning candidates for this election. Aam Aadmi Party had the least impact on the hill state because 6.7 per cent of males and 5.3 per cent of females chose the party. The feelings become a bit more mixed when it was checked by regions, in Kangra 37.4 per cent and 55.6 per cent voted for BJP and Congress respectively. While only 7.1 per cent voted for AAP.
In Mandi, a major chunk of 54.2 per cent of voters says BJP will win while 39.9 per cent voted for Congress and 5.9 per cent chose AAP. In Shimla, the votes were almost a tie, 45.8 per cent said the ruling BJP will win this election, however, 48.8 per cent think it will be back with Congress. AAP was voted by 5.4 per cent.
When asked whether BJP can return to power in Himachal Pradesh, 46.5 per cent of male voters said yes but 53.5 voters said no. Whereas, female voters had a different opinion as 54.2 per cent say the BJP can come back to power while 45.8 per cent disagreed. Those who took the survey in Kangra don't think BJP will return to power as 57.6 per cent voted no and 42.4 per cent said yes. Similarly, in Shimla 55.5 voters said no, while 44.5 said yes. However, thoughts were different in Mandi as 55.1 per cent see BJP retain power while 44.9 per cent disagree.
When asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a major factor in the legislative election, both male and female voters agreed with 50.6 per cent and 61.4 per cent respectively. However, 49.4 per cent and 38.6 per cent respectively think otherwise. Regionwise, in both Kangra and Shimla, 50.6 per cent of respondents don't think PM Modi has a major effect on the election while 49.4 per cent think the prime minister is a major factor. In Mandi, 60.5 per cent say yes, while 39.5 per cent think otherwise.
When asked if Congress will be able to fight BJP without former chief minister Vikramaditya Singh's son Virbhadra Singh, almost equal numbers of male and female voters said yes, 53.3 per cent and 55.5 per cent respectively. While 46.7 per cent male respondents and 44.5 per cent female voters said no. In Kangra and Shimla, 60 per cent and 58.9 per cent said yes, while 40 and 41.1 per cent said no. Meanwhile, in Mandi, 50.6 per cent voted yes and 49.4 per cent said no.
The survey asked whether corruption was a major issue in the assembly elections, and almost the same percentage of males and females said it was a major issue, 62.2 and 62.9 per cent respectively. Whereas, 37.8 (of male) and 37.1 (of female) voters said didn't agree.
Respondents in Kangra (68.7 per cent), Shimla (63 per cent), and Mandi (60.3 per cent) agreed that corruption was a big issue in this election.
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls will be held in a single phase on November 12. Results will be announced on December 8.
[Disclaimer: The present opinion poll/ survey was conducted by CVoter. The methodology used is CATI interviews of adult (18+) respondents with random numbers drawn from standard RDD. The same is also expected to have a margin of error of ±3 to ±5% and may not necessarily have factored in all criteria.]