21.5.12

UPA losing sheen



As it completes three years of its second term in office, the Congress-led UPA is losing its sheen while rival BJP is nosing ahead, a survey has revealed. The survey, conducted across28 cities in April-May, reveals BJP could get 28% of the vote if Lok Sabha elections are held now, while Congress would manage only 20%. According to the ABP News AC Nielsen survey,BJP is slowly gaining popularity as only 69% of those who voted for Congress in 2009 still intend to vote for it. While 12% of the remaining disillusioned lot intend to vote for the BJP. Whereas for BJP, 84% of those who voted for it will stick with the party and only 2% of those leaving will switch to Congress. 
Price rise and corruption seem to have affected the Congress. And among the prospective PMs,17% backed the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi while Manmohan Singh got a 16% support. Rahul Gandhi’s score has dipped from 19% to 13% this year. Sonia Gandhi’s score is down from 14% to 9%. 
For the BJP,the dip of 8% in the Congress vote share is not a complete gain.The BJP is gaining only a marginal 1%.The re
maining 7% dip in Congress vote share among these respondentsis a gain for regional parties that tends to confirm the view that these parties will be crucial in the formation of the next government. 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ratings are good with 37% respondents saying his performance was good or very good. Another 33% ranked him average while 28% believed his performance was poor or very poor. 
Around 32% of respondents felt the UPA government’s performance was better or much better than its last term.A dip of 8% is observed in the perception of people from last year’s survey, where 40% of respondents felt that the performance of the UPA government is better than in the previous term. Thirty nine per cent 
rated UPA performance as “about thesame” this year. 
UPA-2 seems to be failing in the key parameters of governance. Twenty five per cent respondents wanted the government to take immediate steps to control corruption while 24% felt the government should take steps to monitor rising food and petrol prices. 
Concern over Naxalism is growing and is cited by 15% of respondents. This was mentioned by only 8% during last year’s survey. Majority of respondents (57%) said the UPA government was the most corrupt government post-independence, and this figure has increased compared to the previous year (45%). Around 54% of respondents felt that the 2G spectrum scam has impacted India’simage as an investment destination.

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