Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Congress appears to be leading the race to form the next government in Karnataka, having managed an early edge ahead of the three-round polling for the Karnataka Assembly elections, an exclusive CNN-IBN-Deccan Herald opinion poll conducted by CSDS has suggested.
The poll conducted in the state during April reports the current mood of the electorate indicates Congress winning 114 seats in the 224-seat Assembly, giving the party a slender, but clear majority. This means a gain of 49 seats for the Congress over the last elections held in 2004.
The poll also suggests losses for the BJP, which is projected to win 60 seats, a decline of 19 seats over the last elections. The situation for Janata Dal (S) doesn’t seem any better with the party projected to win 37 seats, a decline of 21 seats.
The CNN-IBN-Deccan Herald-CSDS pre-poll survey asked over 5,124 registered voters across the state to indicate their voting preference if “elections were to take place tomorrow”. The count suggests the Congress will secure 39 per cent of the popular vote, with the BJP securing 28 per cent of the total votes and the JD (S) securing 20 per cent votes.
The poll suggests the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is contesting all the 224 seats in the state, will secure just two per cent of the popular votes, with the JD (U), a coalition partner of the BJP last elections, emerging as an insignificant player, totalling even less than BSP.
The opinion poll also suggests the BJP does not appear to have gained much from the voters’ sympathy at the way its government was brought down. However, over 33 per cent of the electorate stated they were still undecided about their voting preferences, indicating the contest is still open.
The poll has also suggested BJP leader BS Yediyurappa is the most favoured choice for the chief minister with 27 per cent of the electorate expressing their support for him.
Kumaraswamy of the JD (S) is the second choice with 22 per cent electorate preferring him. S M Krishna of the Congress is at the third spot with 16 per cent favouring him as the chief minister.
The opinion poll has also projected 54 per cent of JD (S) supporters want H D Kumaraswamy to politically disassociate himself from his father, H D Deve Gowda. In fact 35 per cent of the voters stated the Kumaraswamy government was the best in recent years, ahead of the S M Krishna government which was preferred by 24 per cent voters and the Dharam Singh government which was preferred by 14 per cent voters.
The poll has also projected lack of amenities and infrastructure was considered by the electorate as the most important poll issue with 38 per cent of the electorate ranking it right at the top. This was followed by 21 per cent electorate ranking farmers’ issues as the most important issue, with only 11 per cent rating government instability as an issue.
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