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A majority of Indian voters believe finding work has become difficult and their households are feeling the strain of rising prices, according to an opinion poll released a week before elections begin in Asia’s third-largest economy.
According to an opinion survey conducted by CSDS-Lokniti, around 62% of respondents in rural and urban India said it was harder to find job opportunities and 71% said prices had increased in the last five years. The survey was conducted between March 28 and April 8, with more than 10,000 people participating.
More than 55% of respondents said either the state or federal government was responsible for declining job opportunities and inflation. These are the sensitive campaign issues that the opposition is trying to push on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi although they also control some state governments.
“These factors will play an important role in this election and will have an impact on the future development of Indian democracy,” Hilal Ahmed said in the Lokniti report published in The Hindu newspaper.
Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in office and is counting on strong economic growth and the inauguration of the controversial Hindu temple, once the site of a centuries-old mosque, to win voters. The opposition is trying to deny further gains from Modi, but has been cracked down on and is suffering from a lack of funds.
The prime minister’s approval ratings have hovered above 50% for most of his two terms in office, Yashwant Deshmukh, founder and director of the Center for Voting Opinion and Trends in Election Research, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday.
“The main problem facing the opposition alliance is the dwindling fortunes of the Congress party itself,” he said.
Here are some other results of the survey conducted by the Lokniti program at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies:
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In terms of quality of life, around 36% said they could meet all their needs but were unable to save for the future; 48% said their life had improved in the past five years, while 35% said it had gotten worse
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Only 22% of respondents said the inauguration of the Ram temple was the government’s “most popular action”, but only 8% said it was their main concern when voting
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Unemployment was voters’ top concern at 27%, and price inflation was close behind at 23%.
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The decision to revoke the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir received only 34% support
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About 63% of respondents did not even know about the glittering G20 summit that took place in India last year
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More than half of respondents said corruption had increased, compared to 40% in a similar pre-election survey in 2019
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About 59% of respondents believe that farmers’ demands are genuine and they have the right to protest
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