The Congress is likely to win 17 of 28 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka and voters are dismayed with the rise in prices and the decrease in job opportunities, according to a pre-poll survey by Eedina.
Kannada news portal Eedina conducted a random door-to-door survey of 52,678 people across Karnataka between February 15 and March 5, before parties officially announced their candidates. It had conducted a similar survey ahead of the 2023 state Assembly elections and predicted a victory for the Congress three weeks before the polls.
According to the survey, the results of which were released on Tuesday, March 19, the Congress is likely to win 17 seats while the BJP-JD(S) alliance is likely to get 11. In seven seats, the Eedina survey predicts a neck-and-neck fight.
The Congress is likely to get 43.77% of the total vote, while the BJP-JD(S) is expected to get 42.35 % in a closely fought general election. If this prediction pans out, the Congress will have improved its vote share from 31% in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The BJP, on the other hand, would see an erosion of votes from 51% in the 2019 election.
Asked about the biggest hurdles they faced in the last decade, more than three-quarters of respondents (77%) expressed unhappiness over the rise in prices, and 53 % of people felt that avenues for employment have shrunk.
Around 45% of respondents also felt that corruption has increased in the past 10 years, as has the gap between the rich and poor (42%). Around 37.6% of people felt that welfare schemes have decreased.
People’s perception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, contrasts with their views about corruption, the Union government’s welfare schemes and increasing inequality.
Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) feel that India’s global standing has improved. About 33% of people feel that Modi’s work is “excellent” and 35.8 % said that his work is “satisfactory.” Nearly half — 45% — of respondents also feel Modi should get a third term as PM.
In contrast, over half of respondents — 56% feel that they would vote in favour of the Congress’ guarantee schemes, and this number goes up if one looks at women: 59 % of women feel they would vote in favour of the Congress’ guarantees.
A significant number of people — 39.6% feel that the state government’s guarantees are more helpful than the Union government schemes, while 20% of people feel that the Union government schemes are more beneficial. Around 26 % of people feel that both state and Union government schemes are helpful.