Friday, 17 May, 2024
In the first part of this survey data based exclusive story, India Tracker pointed out how supporters of the Congress and the NCP seemed more keen to save the Maha Vikas Aghadi government than Shiv Sena supporters
In the first part of this survey data based exclusive story, India Tracker pointed out how supporters of the Congress and the NCP seemed more keen to save the Maha Vikas Aghadi government than Shiv Sena supporters and how the first two parties are implacably opposed to the BJP coming back to power. But while things can change dramatically in Indian politics, it did look like advantage BJP and rebel leader Eknath Shinde at the moment. The veteran Shiv Sena leader from Thane in Maharashtra claims that more than 37 Shiv Sena MLAs are backing him and staying with in a luxury resort in Guwahati. He slo claims the support of many independents taking his “tally” to about 45.
If Shinde can keep his flock together and if they do vote against the MVA in a floor test, thee would be little doubt that Thackeray family that has helmed the Shiv Sena will get a rude jolt, the Congress and the NCP will be out of the government and the BJP could well be back in power. As mentioned in the first story, C Voter-India Tracker conducted a survey of citizens of Maharashtra to try and find out what they think about the political crisis and the future. Respondents were divided into five broad categories: supporters of Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, BJP and other parties.
The answers to the fifth and last question reveal that most BJP and Shiv Sena supporters feel that the two parties are natural allies. The question was: Which is your favourite political party in Maharashtra. Just about half of the Shiv Sena supporters picked their party as first choice while close to 63% of BJP supporters chose their party as the first choice. The more interesting results can be seen in the second choice. While 37% of Shiv Sena supporters opted for the BJP, about one in four of the BJP supporters chose Shiv Sena. In effect, a huge majority of more than 85% of BJP and Shiv Sena supporters think implicitly that they are natural allies. Less than 10% and less than 4% of Shiv Sena supporters chose the NCP and Congress respectively, with the tally almost the same even among BJP supporters.
The other interesting response was related to the allegations of misuse of power by the BJP regime. The responses clearly show that voters in Maharashtra know exactly what is happening. They asked: Do you think the BJP is trying to eliminate the opposition by using money power and central investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate? About 63% of Shiv Sena supporters and 44% of BJP supporters agreed with the contention. The proportion of Congress and NCP agreeing with the contention was far higher.
The insight is that people who voted for the BJP and the Shiv Sena agree that the BJP regime is using money and official “muscle” power. And both want the two to become allies once again.
