ABP Opinion Poll: Former Indian cricket skipper and BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly may enhance BJP’s chances in West Bengal if pegged as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections.
As per a survey conducted by the ABP and C-Voter, 48 per cent voters reported an electoral dividend for the BJP if Ganguly popularly known as ‘Dada’ is projected as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.
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The survey suggests that Ganguly also enjoyed strong support from voters of the Left and Others in addition to garnering the endorsement of nearly three-fourth of the BJP voters. Perhaps his status as a Bengali sports icon helps him attract voters that would traditionally forego the BJP as a voting choice, the survey adds.
When offered a choice between Ganguly, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and former TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, the BCCI chief is in the lead.
34 per cent voters in West Bengal feel Ganguly can deliver the best add on votes for the BJP, which is hell-bent on conquering the throne of Kolkata. 15 per cent voters indicated Ghosh as the force multiplier leader and a further 12 per cent voters named Adhikari, the TMC veteran who recently switched over to the BJP, as the one. The rest, however, were undecided between the trio.
Clearly, Ganguly is more popular than Ghosh and Adhikari combined. That is, however, half the picture as none of them are currently more popular than the party. This is a key condition for delivering votes beyond the traditional party base.
The maximum opposition to Ganguly’s leadership lies in the Congress voters’ (69 per cent) followed by those (46%) batting for the TMC.