Survey: When it comes to honesty & preference, BJP is the first choice

PRUDENT MOOD OF THE STATE - PART II

PANAJI: If elections were to be held today, people of Goa would prefer Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as their first choice, followed by Aam Admi Party (AAP), leaving the Indian National Congress (INC) far behind. This is the surprising outcome of the survey that Goa’s premier news channel Prudent Media undertook on September 8 and 9 calling around 65,000 people for their political opinion. The survey conducted to check the pulse of the people amid the Covid-19 pandemic revealed some shocking and surprising results.

The people of Goa are getting vocal and clear about their perception when it comes to choosing who they want as their ruler in the State. In the survey conducted by Prudent Media to define the ‘Mood of the State’ the BJP has emerged both, as the most preferred and the most honest party in Goa. In the survey, BJP’s vote share has increased by 9 per cent, taking its total vote share to 41 per cent from 32 per cent in 2017. Surprisingly the Congress vote share has fallen by 11 per cent and has reached 17 per cent from the last 2017 election figure of 28 per cent. Actually, Congress and AAP vote share has now reached neck to neck. In fact, AAP has superseded Congress by 2 per cent in the survey, and also rose high from its 6.3 per cent to 19 per cent which is more than triple compared to 2017 figures.

The second part of the survey included two prime questions. The first was - if elections were held today, which party would you vote for? And the second question was – which party do you think is the most honest? The questions were asked to a sample of around 65,000 people from a cross section of the population.

When people were asked, if elections were held in Goa today, which party would you vote for, they clearly showed preference for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The survey done to check the mood of the people in Goa clearly shows that the BJP has maintained the highest score with 41 per cent of the people preferring to vote for the saffron party. AAP was preferred by 19 per cent, Congress by 17 per cent, MGP by 7 per cent while GFP was the last with 2 per cent showing their liking for this party. Out of the 65,000 people 14 per cent did not answer this question or had not decided yet about the party which they would choose to vote for.

Now, if the above figures are compared with the actual 2017 numbers, 32.5 per cent people in Goa had voted in favour of the saffron party, the BJP, followed by the INC which stood at 28.4 per cent. MGP and IND, both got almost equal percentage - 11.3 and 11.1 respectively. AAP got fifth place with 6.3 per cent and GFP was preferred the last and the lowest, with 3.5 per cent. This was in 2017.

Again, when asked, which party do you think is the most honest, 48 per cent of the people voted for the BJP. Out of the 65,000 people, 26 per cent thought AAP was the most honest party and 19 per cent felt it was INC. Only 5 per cent of those who were surveyed agreed upon MGP as the most honest party and 2 per cent believed that GFP was honest.

------------------------------------

QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

>> If elections were held today, which party would you vote for?
BJP - 41%
AAP - 19%
CONG - 17%
MGP - 7%
GFP - 2%

>> Which party do you think is the most honest?
BJP - 48%
AAP - 26%
CONG - 19%
MGP - 5%
GFP - 2%

------------------------------------

The performance of BJP is close to 40 per cent. It is not at all improving. If you look statistically, if BJP is happy with 40 per cent and the possibility of re-electing them in spite of having 80 per cent of external MLAs and not BJP MLAs, it is a danger sign
- Dr Manoj Kamat, Principal, Mallikarjun College, Canacona

………..

If you hold elections today, there is every possibility that AAP will be the second largest party in the assembly. BJP has actually looked at improving their vote share compared to 2017. Absolutely, there is a jump. Also, there is an opportunity for the AAP and one has to see how AAP makes use of it. People are happy with BJP not because it is doing a great job, but because it is the best among what is available on their platter.
- Nilesh Borde, University lecturer

………..

The BJP is consistently at 40 per cent. There are various reasons. It is a cadre-based party and their people will always back the party. BJP now has 31-32 MLAs directly or indirectly with them and they do not want to convey a message to the party that the party is weak in their areas.
- Adv Radharao Gracias, political analyst