ABP News-CSDS Survey: Unemployment, low income, GST result in discontentment among voters

Apart from unemployment, the growing unpopularity of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) seems to be emerging as a problem area for the government.

MUMBAI: 'Rail roko' protest by scores of students demanding jobs in the railways. / Image used for representational purpose.

New Delhi: The Lokniti-CSDS-ABP News Survey conducted to find out the mood of the people ahead of the Lok Sabha elections found out that voters remained highly discontented with the government because of unemployment, GST and falling incomes. Economic anxieties of the voters have not been allayed in the last five months, if anything they have increased in several areas. Source: Loknit In understanding people’s worries about the economic situation, the survey sought people’s opinions on issues like employment, taxes and their personal financial situation. We find that unemployment continues to be the main concern for most voters. For the third straight MOTN survey, one in every four voters (a plurality) saw lack of jobs as the biggest problem facing the country. What’s more, nearly three in every five voters (57%) said that finding jobs in their area has become more difficult during the last 3-4 years. This figure had been 8 points less at 49% during the January survey. This is also the variable where economic anxiety seems to be affecting vote choice in a major way. Among people who think it’s more difficult to find jobs now, only 27% were found to be voting for the BJP (overall average of the BJP is 32%); this same figure was 33% in January (BJP’s average vote share then was 34%). Apart from unemployment, the growing unpopularity of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) seems to be emerging as the other problem area for the government. While nearly one-fourth of the respondents (24%) had found taxes under GST to be harsh in the January round of MOTN, in the current round, this figure has jumped to more than 40%. While unavoidable changes in question placement could have had some effect on the responses received, a substantial rise such as this cannot be ignored. Meanwhile, on the subject of personal economic situation, the number of people who feel that their total household income falls short of meeting their needs has nearly doubled itself from 14% in January to 27% now. Since no drastic economic downturn has been experienced in the country in the intermediate period, it is safe to assume that the significant change in people’s responses can be attributed to an increasing anxiety about the economic front.