ABP-CVoter: Should Manipur CM Biren Singh Step Down? Has 'Double Engine' Failed? Here's What The Survey Says

ABPNews-CVoter snap poll found that a significant majority of respondents, including supporters from both NDA (led by BJP) and the Opposition, believe that PM Modi's personal intervention is crucial to stop the violence in Manipur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention is much needed to stop the violence in Manipur, a snap poll by ABPNews-CVoter has found. To balance findings and a result independent of political leanings, the survey polled supporters of the NDA, which is being led by the BJP (which is in power at the Centre and Manipur) and the Opposition.

As many as 82.7% of the Opposition's supporters said that PM Modi should personally intervene to stop the violence in Manipur, while 76.3% of the NDA's supporters favoured the same. A total of 80.1% of the respondents felt PM Modi's intervention was needed.

Resistance to Chief Minister N Biren Singh was also noticed in the survey, with as many as 48.4% of the supporters of NDA polled demanding his removal. The sentiment was shared by 66.5% of the Opposition's supporters. Overall, as many as 59.3% of the respondents felt that it is high time Biren Singh resigned as the Chief Minister of Manipur.

Answering a question about the BJP's claim of the success of its "double-engine" government, 56.5% of the respondents said that it was a complete failure in Manipur. Among the supporters of the NDA who participated in the poll, 43.4% felt the same. As many as 65.3% of the Opposition's supporters said the ongoing Manipur violence reflected a complete failure of the "double-engine" government.

Replying to the question — 'Do you think that BJP and Central Government are failing to stop the Manipur violence for political reasons', 57.7% of the respondents said "Yes". The percentage of those replying in the affirmative was 63.8% and 48.5% among the Opposition and NDA supporters, respectively.

The number of respondents who felt that the President's Rule was needed in Manipur was even higher, with a total of 61.9% of the respondents agreeing to it. Among the Opposition's supporters, 67.1% of people felt that President's Rule was necessary for Manipur, while 54% of the NDA's supporters felt the same. The Opposition has been demanding the imposition of the President's Rule for quite some time now. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to "take steps to ensure peace in the northeastern state". The RJD also demanded President's rule in the state for a limited time.

The ABP-CVoter survey also asked the respondents if they knew the reasons behind the violence in Manipur. As many as 47.8% of the Opposition's supporters answered in the affirmative. However, the figure was a disappointing 38.2% when it came to the NDA supporters. Overall 43.9% of the total respondents said that they knew the reasons behind the Manipur violence.

While answering a question about the culprits who paraded the women in Manipur naked, almost all respondents were in favour of capital punishment. As many as 86.7% of the respondents favoured the death penalty for the culprits.

When it came to the source of their information on the Manipur violence, a majority of the respondents seemed to get their knowledge from Television news channels and social media. As many as 42% of the respondents said that they got their information from television news channels, while social media worked for 30.6% of the respondents. Only 16.6% got their information on the Manipur violence from newspapers and radio.

[Disclaimer: The present opinion poll/survey was conducted by CVoter from July 20 to July 21. The sample size for the survey was 2,664 across India. The same is also expected to have a margin of error of ±3 to ±5% and may not necessarily have factored in all criteria.]