Half of India not opposed to Sonia as PM: CMS pre-poll survey
Nearly half the voters across the country do not oppose Sonia Gandhi trying to become India’s prime minister. On the other hand, about 30 per cent voters oppose her while a quarter of voters had no opinion. Perhaps because she had not yet started her campaign when the Centre for Media Studies conducted its second national pre-poll survey.
Interestingly, one-third of Congress voters are against Sonia trying to become prime minister of the country. Two-thirds of Congress voters predictably favour her becoming prime minister.
Surprisingly, 40 per cent of voters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies do not find anything wrong if Sonia tries to become prime minister.
Most Left Party voters, on the other hand, oppose Sonia’s entry into active politics.
These are some of the findings of the CMS survey on Sonia Gandhi:
No problem if Sonia tries to become prime minister
(per cent voters of different parties)
|
Congress/ allies |
63.5 |
|
BJP/ allies |
40.7 |
|
UF (Minus Left parties) |
47.2 |
|
Left parties |
23.8 |
|
Others |
44.6 |
Voters in Bengal and Bihar are by and large lukewarm to Sonia’s active role in politics. Contrary to what one would expect, the difference in the response pattern of male and female voters to Sonia’s entry is marginal except in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Significantly more women voters favour Sonia’s active role in politics in these two states.
There is nothing wrong if Sonia tries to become prime minister of India:
|
Sex |
per cent of voters |
|
Male |
46.69 |
|
Female |
46.05 |
|
Zone |
|
|
North |
51.0 |
|
South |
56.6 |
|
East |
37.5 |
|
West |
44.9 |
This CMS survey was conducted in the second week of January with 8,000 voters spread across 60 Lok Sabha constituencies in the four regions of the country.
The first CMS pre-poll conducted in the first week of December revealed that voters across the country think differently about the likely impact of Sonia’s entry into politics. Both the CMS surveys reveal that Sonia is today a major factor and her campaign will decide the fate of the Congress campaign.
Some typical comments favouring Sonia’s entry into politics:
Sonia’s entry is the need of the hour for the Congress party. She can revive the party.
The Congress has no mass leader; Sonia will become one.
Some typical comments against Sonia's entry into politics:
It is too late to save the Congress. She can’t achieve a miracle with her political immaturity.
She was never active in politics in the past.
She is a foreigner.
Politics is a dirty game, it might cost her dear as in the case of her husband and mother-in-law.
The CMS Survey continues
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