New Delhi, June 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) A significant proportion of families belonging to the lower income category say that availability of adequate water is a big hindrance in usage of toilets. A reliable and regular source of water is critical for families to be able to use toilets in their houses.

During the nationwide survey conducted by CVoter Foundation in late April, the question asked was: Do you have enough water supply for using the toilet? To which, 52.7 per cent of the respondents said that they did get adequate water supply, while more than 40 per cent disagreed with the contention.

The data from the CVoter Foundation survey reveals differences across respondent categories. While two thirds of the respondents living in urban India said they do get enough water to use toilets in their houses, the corresponding figure for rural India was a little above 46 per cent.

Similarly, while 55 per cent of upper caste Hindus said they got enough water, a significantly lower 44 per cent of respondents belonging to the scheduled tribes shared the same opinion.

When asked why people living in their area still defecate in the open, 17 per cent of the respondents cited lack of water as a reason while another 21 per cent each cited lack of cleanliness and lack of a functional toilet as the reason.

While the Swach Bharat mission launched in 2014 is regarded as a success with more than 9 crore toilets being built, lack of adequate water supply has emerged as a challenge in enabling families to keep using the toilets.

The exclusive survey conducted by CVoter Foundation across the country was initiated to find out success and failures of the Swach Bharat campaign. To make the survey more representative of reality on the ground, all the respondents came from the lower income background, with incomes below Rs 3000 per month. The underlying assumption is that it is the very poor who defecate the most in the open.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) A huge majority of Indians belonging to the lower income group did not have access to a functional toilet till the launch of the Swach Bharat mission in 2014. This was revealed during an exclusive pan Indian survey conducted by CVoter Foundation in late April.

The question asked was: Since when do you have a toilet in your house? A little more than 15 per cent stated that they always had access to a toilet. CVoter Foundation researchers analysed the data gleaned from the responses and the conclusion is that almost 85 per cent of poor Indians did not have an access to a toilet till the launch of the Swach Bharat mission.

While 23 per cent said they got a toilet in the last one year, 27 per cent stated they got a toilet in their house between one and three years ago. Another 12 per cent said they got a toilet between three and five years ago while 20 per cent stated they got it more than five years ago. When the CVoter Foundation survey was conducted in late April this year, it was a little less than nine years since the Swach Bharat campaign was launched.

Under the welfare scheme, the central government spent Rs 70,000 crores between 2014 and 2019 to incentivise construction of toilets by poor families which led to about 9 crore new toilets across the country. According to data released by series 5 of the NFHS, the percentage of households practising open defecation declined from 39 per cent in 2015-16 to 19 per cent in 2019-21.

The exclusive survey conducted by CVoter Foundation across India was initiated to find out success and failures of the Swach Bharat campaign. To make the survey more representative of reality on the ground, all the respondents came from the lower income background, with incomes below Rs 3000 per month. The underlying assumption is that it is the very poor who defecate the most in the open.

CVoter Foundation will expand the initial scope of this survey into a larger one which will facilitate a state wise ranking on the issue.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) A majority of respondents in a pan Indian survey were of the opinion that access to functional toilets has led to a significant reduction in stomach ailments among children.

During the survey conducted in late April, more than 52 per cent of the respondents made the assertion while replying to the question: Has there been a number of reduced incidences of stomach ailments among children after toilets came to your area? While about one in five claimed access to toilets did not reduce stomach ailments among children significantly, about one in four stated they did not know or could not say anything on the issue.

Health experts in India as well as across the old have identified lack of access to toilets as a major cause of chronic stomach ailments that leads to further malnutrition among children. This has also been identified as one major cause for child mortality ratio remaining high in India despite steep declines in poverty levels. It is 31 per 1000 live births in India compared to 27 for Bangladesh and 7 for Sri Lanka.

The exclusive survey conducted by CVoter Foundation across India was initiated to find out success and failures of the Swach Bharat campaign.

To make the survey more representative of reality on the ground, all the respondents came from the lower income background, with incomes below Rs 3000 per month. The underlying assumption is that it is the very poor who defecate the most in the open. It is also the poor families that report the highest child mortality rates.

Gastronomic infection and lack of access to quality healthcare are the main factors, triggered by lack of access to toilets.

The poorest state of India Bihar reports a child mortality rate of 56 compared to the all India average of 31. CVoter Foundation will expand the initial scope of this survey into a larger one which will facilitate a state wise ranking on the issue.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) The availability of a functional toilet in India has led to a significant reduction in sexual assault of women.

This was the opinion of a majority of respondents during an exclusive survey conducted by CVoter Foundation in late April across India.

More than 60 per cent of the respondents answered in the affirmative to the question: Has there been a reduced incidence of sexual assaults on females after getting a toilet in your area?

While three out of every five Indian agrees, about one in every five thinks that there has been no reduction in sexual assaults on women.

Before the launch of the Swach Bharat programme in 2014, young girls and females were vulnerable to molestation and rape while going out to defecate in the open during early morning or in the dark after sunset.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stressed this aspect while launching the mission to make India free of open defecation. This was a serious problem for females particularly in semi-urban and rural areas.

The exclusive survey conducted by CVoter Foundation across India was initiated to find out success and failures of the Swach Bharat campaign. To make the survey more representative of reality on the ground, all the respondents came from the lower income background, with incomes below Rs 3000 per month.

The underlying assumption is that it is the very poor who defecate the most in the open. The NHFS-5 series data for 2021 confirms this it's the two poorest states Bihar and Jharkhand reporting the highest rates of open defecation. Not surprisingly, the two states continue to suffer from high numbers of assault on women who have to go to the fields for defecation.

CVoter Foundation will expand the initial scope of this survey into a larger one which will facilitate a state wise ranking on the issue.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been ranked as the CM facing least public anger in the quarterly IANS-CVoter tracker mapping anti-incumbency index across all layers of governance in the country. He is closely followed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Incidentally, among the states going to the polls over the next 12 months or so, most CMs have been ranked rather low on this scale, including the CMs of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Rajasthan.

As per the survey, only 6 per cent of the respondents in Chhattisgarh are angry with Baghel, making it the lowest number across the country.

Conversely, Baghel enjoys the highest pro-incumbency sentiment among all the Chief Ministers, as per the tracker.

In the tracker conducted in the same period last year also, Baghel was among the best performing Chief Ministers, facing the least anger of the electorate.

Kejriwal is second in the list with 8.3 per cent respondents angry with him, followed by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (9.7 per cent), Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma (12.2 per cent), and M.K. Stalin of Tamil Nadu (12.6 per cent).

On the bottom of the list is Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with as many as 35.4 per cent respondents in the state angry with him.

Gehlot is preceded by Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai (33.1 per cent), Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (32 per cent), Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar (30.7 per cent) and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren (29.8 per cent).

While much has been talked about the Delhi model of governance under Kejriwal, not much has been said about how Chattisgarh CM Baghel has been keeping the anti-incumbency sentiments at such low levels, even while maintaining a low profile, which political pundits call "under the radar".

Baghel briefly made headlines recently when Chhattisgarh surprised all with the lowest unemployment rate in recent months. For more than 36 months, the issue of unemployment has been on top of the mind of a significant number of respondents of the IANS/CVoter trackers across India. In all the recent surveys, unemployment was rated as the most critical issue in the election-bound states.

The IANS/CVoter tracker interviews more than 25,000 respondents every quarter, across all states and UTs. The tracker is run in 11 languages and maps nine layers of anti-incumbency sentiment across central, state and local layers of governance in every state. The current analysis has been done using tracker data from July to September 2022. The margin of error is +/- 3 per cent at national level, and +/- 5 per cent at regional level.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Indian voter seems to be singling out CEO-style leaders in the form of Sarpanch/Mayor, Chief Minister and Prime Minister while displaying any anti-incumbency sentiment.

This was revealed by the latest quarterly review of anti-incumbency sentiments based on a daily tracker poll conducted by CVoter for IANS.

The exclusive data analysis for IANS shows that Indian voters are more angry with CEO- style Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister than the local MP or MLA.

While this does reflect the mood of the typical voter, it doesn't always translate into anti-incumbency electoral verdicts as most elections in contemporary India have returned sitting governments to power.

These sentiments expressed by the Indian voter also reflect how the leader has stated towering over the party or even the government.

The IANS CVoter Tracker poll and analysis shows that the anti-incumbency or anger is the highest against the Chief Ministers and state governments. For instance, at all all India level, 46.6 per cent of the respondents were most angry with the state government while 34.8 per cent were most angry with the Central government.

Asked further about anger levels with state governance, 24.6 per cent of the respondents expressed anger with the Chief Minister while 17.9 per cent expressed anger with the Prime Minister. In contrast, 11.2 per ce nt of the respondents expressed anger with the sitting MLA while just 5.1 per cent were unhappy with the sitting MP.

In tune with this pattern of voter sentiments, 11.7 per cent of the respondents were angry with the Central government while 10.7 per cent expressed unhappy with the state government. The anti-incumbency and anger levels differ from state to state, but the pattern is becoming familiar.

Electoral battles and verdicts are increasingly becoming "personalised". For instance, even in a strong cadre-based party like the CPI-M, Kerala Chief Minister Pinnari Vijayan towered over the party and led it to a record-setting second successive assembly election victory in 2021.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) It has become conventional wisdom that sitting Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets the most credit for the incredible rise in the electoral strength of the BJP since 2014. While the majority of the states find maximum anger against elected representatives or state governments, the PM's ratings remain on the higher side, as per the latest IANS-CVoter Anti-Incumbency Tracker.

The teflon coating is normal in Hindi heartland but even the states where the anger levels against the PM are very low throw up some surprises; at least on the surface.

The three states where voters are least angry with the PM are Chhattisgarh (6.7 per cent), Delhi (8.6 per cent), and West Bengal (9.8 per cent). The first two are on predictable lines, but the numbers of West Bengal show the state might be witnessing another internal churn, practically because the ruling Trinamool Congress has complete grip on all layers of power in the state, from panchayats to municipalities and also with historical high number of MLAs in the assembly, causing the anti-incumbency sentiment to get concentrated at local governance more than the national governance.

However, against the flow of tide, some BJP-dominated states like Goa, Jharkhand, and Karnataka also show higher than average levels of voter anger against the prime minister.

This was revealed in an exclusive analysis for IANS conducted for the quarterly anti-incumbency data collected by CVoter through its daily tracker polls. This could be food for thought for poll strategists in the BJP who have become famous for their 24/7 approach to elections.

Besides, surveys conducted by CVoter, a host of other agencies have shown repeatedly that the Prime Minister remains the most popular leader of the country. In the immediate aftermath of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the popularity and approval ratings of the PM did look shaky; but he remained the most popular.

In this quarterly anti-incumbency analysis done by CVoter for IANS, Goa, Jharkhand and Karnataka stand out as states where voters are unexpectedly unhappy with the PM. For instance, 35.8 per cent of the respondents in Goa were most unhappy with the PM; the numbers were 25.9 per cent and 25.6 per cent, respectively, for Jharkhand and Karnataka. The BJP had virtually swept almost all Lok Sabha seats in these three states in the 2019 general elections.

The other states where respondents expressed high levels of dissatisfaction with the PM were predictable: Punjab, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. These three states have had maximum negative ratings for PM Modi over the last eight years.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) On an average, 24.6 per cent of Indian voters are angry with their Chief Ministers, compared to 11.2 per cent against their sitting MLAs.

But data for individual states show deep differences between them when it comes to anger against the state government and the Chief Minister.

This was revealed by the latest quarterly review of anti-incumbency sentiments based on a daily tracker poll conducted by CVoter for IANS.

While voters in divergent states differ in their opinions and sentiments, the common thread is that anger against the state governments is far higher than the Central government.

For instance, 48.4 per cent of the respondents in Punjab are most angry with the Centre. In contrast, Telengana voters have the maximum level of anger against their state government at a very high 66.8 per cent.

One other quick conclusion that can be drawn after a quick analysis of this exclusive C Voter anti-incumbency index for IANS is that strategists of the Aam Aadmi Party would be satisfied.

The least level of anger against their state government is shown in Delhi (28 per cent), followed by Punjab (32.5 per cent).

Not surprisingly, Delhi (6.3 per cent) and Punjab (9.7 per cent) also happen to be number two and three in states where voters are least angry with the Chief Minister.

The number one spot has been taken by Chhattisgarh (6 per cent) with minimum anger against the Chief Minister. Congress CM Bhupesh Baghel doesn't need to worry about any anger aimed personally against him, but he needs to worry about the anger gathered by all his MLAs due to non-performance at local level.

Telengana (66.8 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (63 per cent), Rajasthan (60.5 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (56.9 per cent) and Karnataka (54.5 per cent) are the states where voters are most angry with the state government.

Two are ruled by the BJP, one by the Congress and the other two by regional parties. Himachal is going to the polls next month and Karnataka will have Assembly elections within next six months, while Telangana and Rajasthan are scheduled to have Vidhan Sabha elections in the second half of next year.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Kerala is the least angry with its MLAs while Himachal Pradesh MLAs face the most anger, as per the latest IANS-CVoter Anti-Incumbency Tracker.

According to the tracker, only 2.3 per cent respondents are angry with the MLAs in Kerala. Bihar MLAs also enjoy public confidence as only 4.7 per cent face anger followed by Gujarat MLAs with only 5.7 per cent respondents being angry. Haryana MLAs are also sitting pretty as only 6.5 per cent respondents expressed anger as per the tracker.

On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh is most angry with its MLAs with 33.2 per cent respondents in the tracker expressing anger. Himachal is followed by Telangana at 32.9 per cent, Chhattisgarh at 30.8 per cent, Odisha at 29.1 per cent and Goa at 20.5 per cent.

On an average, 24.6 per cent of Indian voters were angry with their state chief ministers compared to 11.2 per cent against their sitting MLA. But data for individual states show deep differences between them when it comes to anger against the state government and the chief minister. This was revealed while analysing data for IANS on the quarterly anti-incumbency sentiments and index compiled by C Voter which is based on a unique daily tracker poll that C Voter has been conducting for a long time.

While voters in divergent states differ in their opinions and sentiments, the common thread is that anger against the state governments is far higher than the central government. For instance, 48.4 per cent of respondents in Punjab were most angry with the central government. In contrast, Telangana voters had the maximum level of anger against their state government at a very high 66.8 per cent.

One other quick conclusion that can be drawn after a quick analysis of this exclusive C Voter anti-incumbency index for IANS is that strategists of the Aam Aadmi Party would be satisfied. The least level of anger against their state government is shown in Delhi (28 per cent) followed by Punjab (32.5 per cent). Not surprisingly Delhi (6.3 per cent) and Punjab (9.7 per cent) also happen to be number two and three in states where voters are least angry with the chief minister.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Uttarakhand MPs face the least anti-incumbency while Delhi MPs face the maximum anger from the electorate, as per the latest IANS-CVoter Anti-Incumbency Tracker.

In Uttarakhand, only 5 per cent respondents are angry with their MPs. West Bengal and Kerala MPs are also sitting pretty with only 5.1 and 5.5 per cent respondents expressing anger against their MPs.

Haryana and Himachal Pradesh MPs are also comfortably placed with only 5.7 and 6.2 per cent respondents expressing anger respectively.

Delhi MPs face the maximum anger with 21.1 per cent respondents expressing this followed by Bihar MPs at a lesser 9.4 per cent. In Tamil Nadu, 7.4 per cent respondents express anger at their MPs.

Kerala is the least angry with its MLAs while Himachal Pradesh MLAs face the most anger, as per the IANS-CVoter tracker.

As per the tracker, only 2.3 per cent respondents are angry with the MLAs in Kerala. Bihar MLAs also enjoy public confidence as only 4.7 per cent face anger followed by Gujarat MLAs with only 5.7 per cent respondents being angry. Haryana MLAs are also sitting pretty as only 6.5 per cent respondents expressed anger as per the tracker.

On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh is most angry with its MLAs with 33.2 per cent respondents in the tracker expressing anger. Himachal is followed by Telangana at 32.9 per cent, Chhattisgarh at 30.8 per cent, Odisha at 29.1 per cent and Goa at 20.5 per cent.

On an average, 24.6 per cent of Indian voters were angry with their state chief ministers compared to 11.2 per cent against their sitting MLA. But data for individual states show deep differences between them when it comes to anger against the state government and the chief minister.

This was revealed while analysing data for IANS on the quarterly anti-incumbency sentiments and index compiled by C Voter which is based on a unique daily tracker poll that C Voter has been conducting for a long time.

While voters in divergent states differ in their opinions and sentiments, the common thread is that anger against the state governments is far higher than the central government. For instance, 48.4 per cent of respondents in Punjab were most angry with the central government. In contrast, Telangana voters had the maximum level of anger against their state government at a very high 66.8 per cent.

One other quick conclusion that can be drawn after a quick analysis of this exclusive C Voter anti-incumbency index for IANS is that strategists of the Aam Aadmi Party would be satisfied. The least level of anger against their state government is shown in Delhi (28 per cent) followed by Punjab (32.5 per cent). Not surprisingly Delhi (6.3 per cent) and Punjab (9.7 per cent) also happen to be number two and three in states where voters are least angry with the chief minister.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has established his image as the flag-bearer of 'Chhattisgarhia (original inhabitants of people of state) pride'.

Bhupesh Baghel has been ranked as the CM facing least public anger, as per the quarterly IANS-CVoter tracker mapping anti-incumbency index across all layers of governance in India.

With the rise of Chhattisgarhia feelings in recent years, the majority of the state's roughly three crore people regard him as the protector of Chhattisgarhia peoples' interests.

Bhupesh Baghel has popularised several ancient festivals and cultural events with government support and launched a unique 'Chhattisgarhia Olympics' this month with a purpose to revive the age-old Desi games popular in villages, under direct sponsorship of the state government.

Bhupesh Baghel is one of the most physically fittest CMs in the country and he works roughly 16-hour a day consistently to ensure success of his flagship schemes. His daily schedule of official meetings and events starts at 9 a.m. which goes past midnight.

He has ushered in an economic revolution in the vast rural landscape in Chhattisgarh with his flagship schemes such as 'Godhan Nyay Yojana', which was launched in July 2020 with the prime objective to raise income to cattle-rearers, organic farmers and also strengthening the rural economy.

Chhattisgarh is the first state in the country which launched a scheme in July this year to purchase cow urine at Rs 4 per litre from farmers. This initiative is turning out to be a huge success.

With 'Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana', Bhupesh Baghel has made farmers richer, and a majority of the farmers in the state now own tractors from their own incomes and even without taking loans.

Baghel makes prompt policy decisions. He has instructed the bureaucrats to not to sit on the files and constantly monitor the proper execution of the government schemes on ground. He even does not hesitate to suspend or take legal action against top officers if schemes are not implemented in a time-bound manner.

Chhattisgarh has topped the country with the lowest unemployment rate in recent months.

The latest data in September shows a whopping 99.9 per cent of the adult population is more or less associated with livelihood options.

Chhattisgarh was known as the worst Naxal-hit state of country, but the situation has turned around significantly during Bhupesh Baghel-regime as he built roads and opened schools and hospitals in deep forested and inaccessible areas and took the government welfare schemes to every village, including in no-go areas of Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada and Narayanpur districts where Naxals had monopoly since late 1980s. Naxal violence incidents have dipped more than 90 per cent in Chhattisgarh during the past two years.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indians are clearly not biased towards a BJP or a non-BJP ruled state when it comes to their anger against their state governments and chief ministers.

According to the Anger Index, a survey conducted by CVoter opinion poll on behalf of IANS, Indians are most angry with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (a Congress leader), and least angry with Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel (also a Congress leader).

Gehlot is followed by BJP leader and Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Rajasthan's numbers aren't surprising given the latest crisis in the state government and the open rebellion between the two powerheads in the state Congress -- Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot. The latter has been referred to as a "reluctant CM", however, once Pilot's name was floated as the new CM, the crisis in the state unit deepened.

This wasn't the first time that the state leadership was divided over a power struggle. While the state leadership, the CM included, was so busy with infighting, Rajasthan also registered the highest unemployment rate, according to CMIE data.

Equally interesting is the fact that Chhattisgarh recently emerged as a state with least unemployment rate among all the states; and one can't overlook the fact that Chhattisgarh CM has emerged top-ranked as far as managing public anger is considered.

Another interesting fact is that the CMs who have scored better on the Anger Index mostly come from non-BJP ruled states -- Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Himanta Biswa Sarma has appeared as the lone BJP CM from Assam with only 12.2 per cent respondents unhappy with him.

Indians are least angry with Delhi's state governance at 28 per cent while Telangana has managed to miff off most of their electorate - 66.8 per cent are angry with the condition of state governance in the K. Chandrasekar Rao-led southern state.

It's interesting to note that the relations between these two states and Centre aren't on the best of terms. While the Delhi government is known to be at loggerheads with the Lieutenant Governor (appointed by the Centre), recent not-so-friendly statements made by KCR against the Centre have been making headlines.

The data collated under Anger Index has thrown up federal fault lines which, after a promising start with Modi's call for a "competitive, cooperative federalism", is again on the brink.

However, interestingly when it comes to local governance, anger against Delhi's local governance is the most at 30.7 per cent while respondents were least angry with Telangana's local governance at 5.4 per cent.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Anti-incumbency sentiments are higher against state governments compared to the Centre, according to the Anger Index, a survey conducted by CVoter opinion poll on behalf of IANS.

India's federal structure and the continuously deteriorating relations between several state governments and the BJP-led Centre have been a point of debate since 2014. While the Prime Minister has himself said that the federal structure has emerged as a "model for the world" post the Covid-19 debacle, the political chasms between the two sides continue to grow. And the electorate clearly understands this.

According to the Anger Index, 46.6 per cent respondents are unhappy with their state governance, while 34.8 per cent are angry with the Central government.

Meanwhile, 24.6 per cent of the surveyed are most miffed with their Chief Ministers, while only 17.9 per cent are unhappy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Interestingly, more Indians are unhappy with Central government machinations (11.7 per cent) than the state (10.7 per cent).

Indians clearly trust the Cabinet of Ministers more than the state leadership.

A lack of bonhomie between the state and Central governments came into the fore during the first wave of the pandemic. The Centre blamed the state machinery for not being robust enough, the state governments, in turn, called out the Centre on not being given enough notice before imposing the lockdown.

Similar discord was witnessed when the migrant exodus happened in the middle of the pandemic.

The state governments were not equipped to handle the load that was returning home which resulted in several being stranded midway and many dying due to Covid. Nevertheless, in the past few years (since 2014, to be precise), Centre-state relations have been politicised, for various reasons.

Since 2014, non-NDA parties have been less than willing to play along with Centre reforms. Some of the more vocal ones like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have historically not gotten along with Centre. But it's clear from these numbers that partisan divides between the NDA and non-NDA ruled states are starting to overshadow the vision of cooperative federalism promoted in the first half of Modi's term in office.

At least, 35.4 per cent respondents were unhappy with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot followed by Karnataka's Basavaraj Bommai (33.1 per cent) and Bihar' Nitish Kumar (32.0 per cent).

Delhiites are the happiest lot with their local governance as respondents have said they were the least angry with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government (28.0 per cent).

Uttar Pradesh, however, recorded 41.8 per cent saying that they are unhappy with the Yogi Adityanath government.

Respondents seem angrier with the Chief Ministers compared to their local MLAs or those in grassroot governance. Interestingly the best performing Chief Ministers are grappling with the non-performance of their sitting MLAs. Almost all the top rated Chief Ministers have their sitting MLAs rated in really poor numbers by the electorate. Similarly, the states where ratings of PM Modi are rocket high are also the states where the ratings of sitting BJP MPs are rock bottom.

Comparatively, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are least angry with the central government and the Prime Minister.

Himachal, which will go to the polls next month, recorded 63 per cent who are unhappy with the state governance, while Chhattisgarh at 6 per cent is least angry with their Chief Minister.

Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are most unhappy with Central governance at 48.4 per cent, 47.7 per cent and 46.6 per cent, respectively.

The anti-BJP and anti-Modi sentiments in the southern states could be the reason behind these states' unhappiness with the Centre.

Additionally, growing discontent between non-BJP states and the Centre and their public discourse could have been the reason for the growing sentiments of unhappiness.

As far as Punjab is concerned, Modi and the Central government probably garnered a poor rating post the protests against the farm laws and the eventual scrapping of it.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Punjab have been consistently returning poor ratings for the Prime Minister in the last eight years.

In political terms, these three states also happen to be the final frontier that the BJP needs to cross electorally in quest of becoming India's default 'party of governance', a term which analysts had reserved for the Congress for almost six decades after independence.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Very few governments in Indian political history have been able to beat anti-incumbency sentiments among the electorate.

It's very common for a party or person in India to lose elections just because they have already been in power.

With the kind of population demographics and size of the nation, India experiences anti-incumbency probably every five years.

However, interesting data threw up in a CVoter opinion poll conducted on behalf of IANS.

According to the Anger Index, a survey conducted by IANS-CVoter opinion poll, anti-incumbency sentiments are highest against state governance, followed by Central and local governance.

As many as 46.6 per cent respondents are unhappy with the governance on state level while 18.6 per cent have said they are angry with local governance. At least, 34.8 per cent are unhappy with the central government.

Interestingly, while 24.6 per cent of the respondents blame the Chief Minister for their anger, only 11.2 per cent are angry with their sitting MLAs and a meagre 5.1 per cent are miffed with their sitting MP.

When analysed closely, the data clearly shows that the majority of Indians place most of their trust in the local governance and place larger faith in the Central government than the state. The popularity of Narendra Modi remains unwavering as only 17.9 per cent blame the Prime Minister for poor machinations of state governance.

The data will not surprise those who understand how Indian politics and democracy veers towards personalities who emerge as political anchors for their parties.

Since 2014, Modi has become a towering figure in terms of popularity among Indians. So much so, that if a particular state government was doing well, the electorate would jump to credit the central government, especially PM Modi's leadership, for a job well done. The data could also mean that Indians have a skewed view of how the governments in India work.

The number of respondents unhappy with the Prime Minister (leader of the Centre) outweigh the number of those unhappy with the central government. This only means while the brownie points of all important works done by Centre are credited in PM Modi ratings, in the states where the Central government is discredited, the blame also lands at the personal ratings of the PM. Equally true are trends at the state level, where all CEO styled chief ministers get the credit done by the state governments, but they also end up facing the public anger as and when the disenchantment with the state government seeps in.

Here's where the data gets more curious. While 66.8 per cent are angry with state governance in Telangana, they apparently rate their local governance quite high. Telangana has topped the list of states where people are most satisfied with their local politicians -- only 5.4 per cent are angry with the state of local governance. Overall, anger against local governance outweighed anger against state and central government. One of the reasons for these figures could be that the smart Indian electorate places more faith in the local leaders than those whom they only periodically see on the telly.

Additionally, the physical proximity of a public servant is clearly more important for respondents. However, Delhi and Maharashtra respondents have expressed maximum unhappiness with the local governance. This underlines the huge anger getting built up at the Municipal level governance in India's political capital Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai, both of which are likely to hold the much hyped Municipality Elections in coming months. If the trendline of the Anger Index is taken to be something of a bell weather, the BJP is likely to face the anti-incumbency heat in Delhi while the MVA partner Shiv Sena might get into rough weather in Mumbai.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 15 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Yogi Government has acted tough against the people accused of participating in the violence that broke out in different cities of Uttar Pradesh over controversial remarks of BJP spokespersons about Prophet Muhammad.

Properties of the alleged rioters were demolished in different cities of the state. However, majority of Indians dont agree with the 'bulldozer' action of the Yogi Government against the alleged rioters, as per the findings of the nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS on the issue.

According to the survey data, while 60 per cent of the respondents opined that demolishing the houses of the alleged rioters without following judicial process is wrong, 40 per cent of those who participated in the countrywide poll approved the action of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Predictably, during the survey while the majority of NDA voters supported the action of the Yogi government, majority of opposition supporters spoke against it.

As per the survey data, 55 per cent of the NDA supporters said Yogi Government has done the right thing by razing the houses of the alleged rioters, about 71 per cent of the opposition voters spoke against the action of Uttar Pradesh government.

The country is witnessing massive protests in different states over inflammatory remarks of a BJP spokesperson about Prophet Mohammad. The protests turned violent in some states after Friday prayers as people indulged in stone pelting and damaged property inviting tough action from the Yogi Government.

Hundreds of those accused of participating in the violence were arrested and houses/properties of some have been demolished. The demolitions have invited condemnation from opposition leaders, who accused the Yogi Government - of targeting the minority Muslim community.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 15 (SocialNews.XYZ) The inflammatory comments by BJP spokespersons about Prophet Mohammad snowballed into a major controversy inviting condemnation from countries in the Islamic world and widespread protests by the Muslim community within the country.

The country has been witnessing protests in several states demanding strict action against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Protests at several places in the country turned violent after Friday prayers resulting in two deaths and hundreds of arrests.

The Yogi Government decided to act tough to teach a lesson to the alleged rioters and demolished houses of alleged masterminds of the violence.

Accusations and counter accusations are being made by the ruling BJP and opposition parties over the whole episode.

As the controversy continues to unfold, majority of Indians believe that now the issue is being used by the political parties for their political gains, as per the findings of the nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS on the issue.

During the survey, while 75 per cent of the respondents said that the issue of the controversial statement of Nupur Sharma is being used for political motives, only 25 per cent thought otherwise.

Interestingly, majority of both NDA and opposition supporters opined that the issue has got politicised.

During the survey, while almost 80 per cent of the NDA supporters said that the issue is being used for political gains, 71 per cent of the opposition voters believed the same. Interestingly, the majority of respondents from all social groups belonging to different age groups opined that politics is being done on the issue.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) As the Yogi government contemplates taking "bulldozer" action against the accused involved in the communal violence that took place in Kanpur last Friday, majority of the Indians back the proposed move of Uttar Pradesh, as per the findings of a survey conducted by IANS-CVoter on the issue.

Kanpur witnessed violent communal clashes between the two communities over blasphemy during a TV debate. At least 800 people were booked and dozens have been arrested. However, the majority of Indians do not appear to be satisfied with mere arrests of the culprits responsible for that violence that shook the city and are in favour of the bulldozer action against them.

According to the findings of the nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS to understand the people's opinion on the issue, while 77.4 per cent of the respondents said that there should be a bulldozer action against the culprits responsible for communal violence, only 2.6 per cent opposed any such move.

Interestingly, a majority of both NDA and opposition supporters opined in favour of razing the illegal properties of the accused of rioting. During the survey, while 85.0 per cent of the NDA supporters opined in favour of bulldozer action, 71.8 per cent of opposition also said that they want to see such an action against the rioters.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) There has been a lot of talk in recent times about an overdose of cricket that seems to have compelled fans to stay away from live telecasts of matches. This was noticed during the recently concluded season of IPL when the TRP of the telecasts reportedly fell down considerably compared to previous years.

The poor form and performance of the big stars also seemed to play a role in the seeming decline of popularity of cricket as a sport in the country. Besides, the excellent performance of Indian athletes and sportspersons in other sports suggested that there is more to sports than just cricket.

Some cynics and pessimists have already made doomsday forecasts that cricket will soon stop becoming an obsession with fans as they switch to other genres of sports and entertainment.

However, a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS seems to suggest that sports fans still enjoy watching cricket.

The survey was conducted across all educational, socio economic and income groups. As per the results of the survey, 73 per cent of the respondents overall stated they were planning to watch the live telecast of the India-South Africa T20 series that starts on June 9, 2022. There was surprising news for those who think that it is predominantly males who watch cricket while females prefer other sources of entertainment.

According to the survey, while 75 per cent of male respondents said they will watch the India-South Africa series, about 70 per cent of the male respondents shared the same sentiment. The popularity of cricket does seem to decline as incomes rise. While 75 per cent of low income respondents stated they will watch the live telecast of the series, 66 per cent of high income respondents shared the same sentiment. Perhaps families with higher incomes have easy access to other sources of entertainment.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) Incidents of rape and gang-rape are becoming increasingly frequent in the country. Often the judicial process to punish the accused is so long-drawn and so tortuous that victims often feel they are punished for being the victims of violation.

Given this backdrop, the news that a 13-year-old girl killed her alleged rapist in Rajasthan became a topic of debate in many circles.

According to news reports, a man in Alwar, Rajasthan had been repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl for many months and even blackmailing her with obscene videos. Fed up with this, the girl strangled the alleged rapist to death when he was under the influence of alcohol. The young girl has been arrested by the police in Rajasthan.

However, a majority of ordinary Indians are convinced the girl did the right thing by killing the man, disturbing as the event is.

This was revealed during a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS to gauge public opinion on the issue, which has not received much media attention because of other controversies. The survey covered all educational, socioeconomic and income groups in the country. Overall, 74 per cent of the respondents were of the opinion that the girl did the right thing by killing her alleged rapist while 24 per cent of the respondents felt that she should have approached the police instead.

The feeling was assured by people cutting across political divides. While 77 per cent of NDA supporters felt the girl did the right thing, about 72 per cent of the opposition voters shared the same sentiment. Surprisingly, a larger 77 per cent of male respondents felt the girl did the right thing while about 70 per cent of female respondents shared the same sentiment.

The punishment for rapists had become a major topic of debate recently when a bench of the Supreme Court had reduced the death penalty of a person convicted of raping and killing a 9-year-old girl in 2013 by stating that the accused deserves a chance to reform.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) The controversy generated by the remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has not only created a global firestorm, but also reignited the debate within India on people deliberately denigrating other religions and religious practices in the name of free speech.

An overwhelming majority of Indians think that people should avoid making comments that hurt the religious sentiments of any community. This was revealed during a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS to gauge the sentiments of ordinary Indians on the issue.

A big majority of more than 84 per cent respondents overall said that people should not make offensive remarks while just about 16 per cent were of the opinion that free speech should be allowed even if it is offensive.

There seemed to almost complete unanimity amongst Indians irrespective of educational, socio economic and ethnic backgrounds. For instance, among opposition supporters, more than 85 per cent agreed with the contention while about 83 per cent of NDA supporters shared the same sentiment. About 89 per cent of upper caste Hindus supported the convention and 85 per cent of respondents belonging to the Muslim community shard the sentiment.

Even urban and rural divides that are sometimes visible disappeared on this issue. While more than 84 per cent of urban respondents felt it is not okay to hurt sentiments of any community, 83 per cent of respondents living in rural India were of the same opinion. There wasn't much difference even when one factored educational and income disparities among the respondents.

More than 83 per cent of lower education respondents agreed with the contention while more than 87 per cent of respondents with a university degree shared the same sentiment. Similarly while 84 per cent of respondents belonging to the low income group were of the opinion that people should not hurt sentiments of another community, 88 per cent respondents belonging to higher income groups shared the same sentiment. Clearly, in a diverse country like India, citizens feel it is important to respect all faiths and cultures, dictum that many forget in these polarised times.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) The BJP on June 5, 2022, officially announced that it is suspending its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma from the primary membership of the party. Another spokesperson and leader Naveen Jindal was expelled from the party. This decision taken by the leadership of the BJP triggered a major controversy, particularly on social media platforms.

Many 'supporters' of the BJP were outraged by the decision and called it an appeasement of the kind that used to be practised by the Congress.

There were quite a few personal abuses and invectives hurled at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But, do a majority of Indians back this social media outrage? Not at all.

In fact, according to a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS reveals that a huge majority of ordinary Indians back the BJP's decision to suspend Nupur Sharma from the party.

As a matter of fact, almost 72 per cent of NDA supporters backed this move while more than 79 per cent of opposition supporters shared the same sentient. Overall, 76 per cent or more than 3 out of every four respondent backed the BJP's decision. Clearly, what 'trends' on social media is often not what a majority of Indians think.

Even female respondents were not very supportive of Nupur Sharma. While 77 per cent of male respondents backed the decision made by the BJP to suspend her, 76 per cent of female respondents shared the same sentiment. Similarly, while 76 per cent of Dalit or scheduled caste respondents agreed with the BJP decision, 71 per cent of upper caste Hindus shared the same sentiment.

Another community that votes in large numbers for the BJP is the OBC. About 71 per cent of them supported the move. The maximum support came from the Sikh community with 97.8 per cent of them backing the BJP's move followed by almost 90 per cent of respondents from the Muslim community who shared the same sentiment.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) There are so many news TV channels in so many Indian languages that they are in a constant race to attract a more or less fixed base of viewers who also have the option of watching entertainment shows, movies and sports apart from OTT platforms.

This race has prompted many news TV channels to focus more on controversial and politically and ideologically divisive issues to attract more and more eyeballs.

This often leads to unsavoury controversies, like the one recently generated by a former BJP spokesperson during a prime time TV debate. Provoked by insulting remarks against Lord Shiva, she allegedly made offensive remarks against the Prophet of Islam.

This not only triggered a global controversy but also led to her suspension from the party. However, many Indians seem to be of the opinion that it is high time news TV channels stopped airing shows and debates that promote or lead to more communal polarisation. This was revealed during a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS to gauge the mood of ordinary Indians on the issue.

Overall, 77 per cent of the respondents felt TV channels should stop airing communally polarising shows while 23 per cent were of the opinion that it was all right for TV channels to do the same. There was remarkable consensus among Indians that cut across political divides.

While more than 78 per cent of opposition supporters felt TV channels must shun divisive shows and debates, more than 75 per cent of NDA supporters felt the same. The youth were more inclined to support this sentiment with 80 per cent of respondents between the age of 18 and 24 years saying TV channels need to avoid airing divisive debates while 71 per cent of those above 55 years felt the same. CVoter surveys have consistently shown that ordinary Indians are more concerned with bread and butter issues like unemployment and inflation.

By ignoring them, some TV channels could be losing viewers in the long run in their quest for short term TRP gains.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari have been rated as the two best performing ministers in the second innings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which began in May 2019.

This was revealed by a nationwide survey for IANS conducted by CVoter in the month of May, which included respondents from all age groups, all educational and economic backgrounds as well as ethnic identities.

Their performances have been rated better than many high-profile ministers who regularly grab media headlines. The ratings given to both Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari cut across political divides, as indicated by the results of the survey.

Both the NDA and the Opposition supporters were in agreement while rating the duo as the two best performing ministers. On a rating scale of 1 to 10, NDA supporters gave 8.36 to Rajnath Singh and 8.07 to Nitin Gadkari. The Opposition supporters gave 7.03 to Rajnath Singh and 6.81 to Nitin Gadkari.

Rajnath Singh is a tough, no-nonsense leader from the old BJP culture who remains firm and uncompromising when it comes to national interests without resorting to needlessly divisive rhetoric.

His high ratings among land owning farmers and Sikhs also make him an exception among his colleagues as during the farmers' protest, he remained the only minister with whom the protesters were willing to talk and discuss their issues.

He has shown maturity and grace while dealing with the tense situation on the borders with China in Ladakh that continues even after the June 2020 showdown when violent border clashes claimed the lives of 20 Indian army personnel, besides killing unnamed number of Chinese soldiers.

Under his watch, the 'Make in India' programme for defence equipment has gathered rapid momentum with the participation of private players.

Meanwhile, Gadkari has already acquired a reputation for being singularly focused on his mandate to build more and more world-class highways and roads in India at a record pace.

He has surpassed the records set by the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime when highway construction first became a priority area.

His ratings also have a unique positioning when studied from the point of view of education and income profile. As the education level went up among the respondents, the approval ratings of Gadkari too went up.

He was rated even above Rajnath Singh by the electorally critical middle class and graduate respondents. Cutting across the socio-economic divide, Gadkari remains among the top three ministers, and runner-up in most demographic categories behind Rajnath Singh.

The unusually high ratings given by the common man to these two ministers goes against the media and social media narrative of polarisation based politics in India, as the USP of these two can hardly be associated with polarised campaigning.

This simply underlines that regardless of the communal frenzy that the public discourse is indicating, a huge majority of silent Indians appreciate the sober, non-confrontationist and inclusive personalities who can define delivery of governance in a no-nonsense way.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a kind of testimony that Indian citizens and voters appreciate the work done by "technocrats" who have never indulged in electoral politics of any kind, Union Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar emerged as one the top rated ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose second regime commenced in May 2019 with the surprise announcement of retired Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar as the Union External Affairs minister as a replacement for the late Sushma Swaraj who had retired from active politics by then.

This was revealed by a nationwide survey for IANS conducted by CVoter in the month of May, 2022 that included respondents from all age groups, all educational and economic backgrounds as well as ethnic identities.

The extremely high ratings given by ordinary Indians to Jaishankar also bursts the myth that the Indian voter is not concerned at all with foreign policy or strategic issues. While NDA supporters gave him a rating of 7.69, opposition voters gave him a rating of 6.31. While Jaishankar was rated as the fourth best performing minister by NDA supporters, the opposition voters placed him a notch higher at rank three.

While his predecessor Sushma Swaraj had acquired a formidable reputation for transforming the once distant and haughty diplomatic corps into a truly citizen friendly service with her frequent personal interventions via Twitter, Jaishankar has displayed polite nevre of steel while espousing the strategic national interests of India in a rapidly changing multi-polar world. Without being harsh or rude, Jaishankar has firmly told western governments and the media in various international forums that they have no right or moral authority to judge and lecture India. While this approach has upset many "old world" diplomats even in India, the average Indian voter clearly seems to think otherwise.

What has been surprising in the rating of Foreign Minister is that is he hardly a household name in terms of political standing. Probably it is the approval of Foreign Policies and performance of MEA that has been appreciated well by majority of Indians. This actually is even better considering that earlier only the big shot political names used to get top of the mind recall in performance evaluations. But the general public is now less interested in the name that is heading a certain ministry or department, and more in the actual output of that particular department.

Goes without saying that respondents with higher education levels and those who have better access to news and current affairs have rated Jaishankar better than other demographics, but it is heartening to see his name and ministry getting among the top-rated ones even by the less educated and low-income respondents. A technocrat's performance in governance getting appreciated going beyond the elite sphere is something new that we haven't come across in the past.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Union Minister for Women & Child Development Smriti Irani is described as a feisty leader by both her fans and critics. In a recent survey conducted by CVoter to rate the performance of various ministers in the second regime of Prime Minister Modi that commenced in May 2019, Smriti Irani has been rated as the fifth best performing minister by both the NDA and opposition supporters.

It is a measure of her ability to impress ordinary Indians and voters with her performance that she has managed such a high rank despite handling a relatively "non-glamorous" portfolio.

One reason also could be that Irani created a kind of history by defeating Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency during the 2019 elections. A pocket borough of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Amethi was considered to be an electoral cakewalk for them till 2019. This was revealed by a nationwide survey for IANS conducted by CVoter in the month of May, 2022 that included respondents from all age groups, all educational and economic backgrounds as well as ethnic identities.

But what should be an eye opener for pundits and analysts is the spectacular support and appreciation she receives from the poor and marginalised sections of Indian society. For instance, the survey shows that Indians belonging to the SC/ST category have rated Irani as the best performing minister. The survey also reveals that Smriti Irani is very popular with the young Indians.

Respondents in the age category 18 to 24 rated her as the second-best performing minister in the cabinet. She is very popular with the women too. In the category housewives, respondents rated her as the third best performing minister in the Modi cabinet.

Similarly, both landless agricultural labourers and general labour categories rated her as the second-best performing minister.

The second most important woman face in Modi Sarkar happens to be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman. Unfortunately for her, the issues of inflation and price rise has dampened the ratings of her ministry. She does make it to top 10 list among the higher educated and high-income group respondents, but the electorally low number of these demographics are not helping with her ratings at all India level. The much bigger by volume demographics happen to be bottom of the pyramid and the pressing economic issues are hurting them the most. Apart from SC/ST voters, Smriti Irani score well even among the OBC voters.

Clearly, the feisty Smriti Irani is carving out her own place as a charismatic political leader who appeals to poor and underprivileged voters, who still constitute the majority of the electorate in India. A significant number of OBC voters in Hindi Heartland also give higher approval ratings for Anupriya Patel, who is a minister from Apna Dal; an important NDA ally in Uttar Pradesh who played a critical role in BJP sweep in recent assembly elections.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Gajendra Singh Shekhawat handles the crucial Jal Shakti portfolio as the Union Minister. The target of the Jal Shakti mission is to ensure that every household in India gets access to tap water by 2024. This is as ambitious as the Swachh Bharat and Ujjwala schemes launched during the first tenure of the Narendra Modi government.

But unlike many other ministerial colleagues, Shekhawat is not very high profile and you won't find him at glitzy events showcasing the envious achievements of his ministry. A Rajasthan politician who is hardly supposed to be known across Hindi heartland, forget pan-India appeal, is still rated among the best performers of Modi Sarkar, is nothing short of a surprise if not an outright miracle.

This is reflected in the rankings of ministers on their performance where NDA supporters placed him in top 10 of Modi Ministers while opposition supporters gave him an even higher rank of 8 on the list. This was revealed by a nationwide survey for IANS conducted by CVoter in the month of May, 2022 that included respondents from all age groups, all educational and economic backgrounds as well as ethnic identities.

To the majority of media analysts and political pundits sitting in TV studios this could be an unsolved jigsaw puzzle till they get down to the fact that people at large have started evaluating the areas of development and work under certain department rather than any individual. So, with addition of every kilometre in any highway whatsoever that is being built across India, Gadkari's ratings automatically seem to go up.

Similarly, the much ambitious project of providing tap water in every Indian household is adding up better ratings of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat by virtue of the work he is leading in his ministry to deliver before much crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

But the real missing piece of this jigsaw puzzle is Women voters of India. It might be recalled that many skeptics had scoffed at the mission to install a toilet in every household of India. But the recent election results and the subsequent post poll analysis done by many reputed organisations concluded that the silent women voters had given a big thumbs up to the Modi regime because access to toilets at home not only saved the women from humiliation, but also from sexual crimes.

The Jal Shakti mission is also being largely ignored by media platforms as it is too "boring" a subject to cover. But the CVoter survey reveals something startling. Respondents who categorised themselves as "housewives" have rated ministry of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as the best performing one by a wide margin. These housewives are not noisy partisans featuring in political debates. But this silent cohort constitutes a huge proportion of voters and it does appear as if Shekhawat works like Gadkari and delivers on the promise of tap water in every Indian household, then he might get credited with stabilizing the biggest vote catchment for his party by next Lok Sabha elections.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Normally, one would expect supporters across political and ideological divides not only disagree on important issues of the day, but also vehemently disagree when it comes to appreciating or disparaging the performance of the ruling regime and its ministers.

But in a surprise development, there appeared to be widespread agreement between NDA and opposition supporters when it comes to rating the performance of ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose second regime commenced in May 2019. This was revealed by a nationwide survey for IANS conducted by C Voter in the month of May, 2022 that included respondents from all age groups, all educational and economic backgrounds as well as ethnic identities.

Barring a few exceptions, the ministers whose performance was rated highly by the NDA supporters were also rated highly by opposition supporters. This displays the remarkable ability of the vastly underestimated and under rated Indian voter who has the maturity and wisdom to set aside political blinkers while assessing how a particular minister performed.

Out of the top 10 ranked ministers in the survey cutting across socio economic, ethnic and education backgrounds across the country, 8 out of 10 were common to the list of top ten generated by both the NDA and the opposition voters. The Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya does not find a place in the top 10 performers as rated by NDA supporters; but opposition supporters have placed him in the top 10.

Similarly, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah is rated as the third best performing minister by NDA supporters; opposition supporters do not find a place for him in the top 10. Barring the few exceptions, the near unanimity among NDA and opposition supporters is in direct contrast to the divisive politics we see every day in media outlets.

When it comes to Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, their rating as the best performing ministers in the second tenure of the regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cuts across class, caste and even religious categories of voters in the country.

The main reason ascribed to their high performance ratings is their perceived ability to shun divisive rhetoric even as they single minded lay focus on the mandate given to them. Despite the divisive nature of politics that India has seen in recent times, Muslim respondents in the survey ranked Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari as the top two performing ministers in the Narendra Modi-led cabinet. This is a remarkable result as it reflects that Indians have the wisdom and maturity to assess the performance of their ministers without wearing political, ideological or religious blinkers.

But delve a little deeper into the data and one can notice the class and income divides that pervade Indian society. Take the categories government and private sector job respondents. Both rate Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari as the top two. But take landless agricultural labourer and Smriti Irani is ranked second while Gadkari is not there in the top three. For land owning farmers, Rajnath and Gadkari are the top two. For upper caste Hindus, Rajnath and Gadkari are top two while Smriti Irani finds no place in the top three.

But in the SC/ST category, Irani is ranked number one. Similarly, Union Commerce minister Piyush Goyal finds no place in the top three in any category but respondents who reported a monthly income of more than Rs 100,000 ranked him as the third best minister.

Without a doubt, the IANS-CVoter survey reaffirms the existence of class and income divides in India.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, May 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) While people in some states exude enthusiastic optimism about their future financial prospects, people in some other states are deeply pessimistic when it comes to the future financial prospects of their families, as per an IANS-CVoter survey.

This was revealed during an exclusive survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS in the four states -- Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where Assembly elections were held in 2021.

A series of questions were asked to gauge public mood and opinion on a range of social, political and economic challenges confronting the country. The widely-differing opinions on future prospects were quite surprising as the respondents expressed the same opinion on most other topics and issues.

People in West Bengal appeared to be the most pessimistic about their future. When asked about their future living standard in the next one year, 58 per cent of the respondents said that it will deteriorate, while 21 per cent said that it will improve. Another 11 per cent said it will remain the same.

People in neighbouring Assam were much more optimistic. While 38 per cent of the respondents said their living standard will improve in the next one year, about 29 per cent were of the opinion that it will deteriorate. Interestingly, a significant 25 per cent of the respondents in Assam said they had no opinion on the issue.

Kerala seemed evenly split between the optimists and pessimists. While 33 per cent of the respondents felt their living standard will deteriorate in the next one year, about 31 per cent reckoned that it will improve.

People in Tamil Nadu were unusually optimistic with about 45 per cent of the respondents saying their living standard will improve in the next one year. In sharp contrast, just 13 per cent of the respondents said their living standard will deteriorate.

A majority of Indian families are feeling the pinch of rising expenses on inflation and seem convinced that growing expenses in the last one year were becoming difficult to manage, as per the IANS-CVoter survey.

In Tamil Nadu, almost two-third of the respondents said that they were finding it difficult to manage the rising expenses. Another 22 per cent said that while expenses had indeed gone up, they were just about able to manage.

In neighbouring Kerala, about 62 per cent of the respondents stated that they were finding it difficult to manage rising expenses, while another 25 per cent were of the opinion that while expenses had gone up, they were still manageable.

The situation seems equally dire in other states too. In Assam, two out of three respondents stated that they were finding it very difficult to manage rising expenses while another 18 per cent claimed that while expenses had gone up, they were just about able to manage.

West Bengal seems to be the most adversely affected of the states. As many as 74 per cent of the respondents claimed that they were finding it very difficult to manage growing expenses. Another 16 per cent stated they found expenses rising but were able to manage.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) There is no doubt that anti-incumbency, and often outright anger with the existing ruling party, plays a big role in voter decisions that lead to final election results.

There can also be no doubt that "perceptions" about who will win the elections affects voter behaviour.

This was revealed by final results of the CVoter-ABP News opinion poll released on Monday evening. A large number of voters seemed upset and angry with their existing governments in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. But perceptions about who will win differed in many states.

The Congress is in trouble in Punjab because anger against the government is reinforced by perceptions of winnability. The poll revealed that 65.4 per cent of the voters were angry and wanted the government out. At the same time, only 12.2 per cent of voters "perceived" that the Congress will win the elections. This is a clear double whammy for the party.

In Goa too, a majority 50.4 per cent of voters were upset and wanted the current government out. Yet, close to 40 per cent of voters perceived the BJP will win the elections. That is giving some comfort to the BJP which seems decidedly unpopular in the state after ten years of rule.

In Uttar Pradesh too, 46.8 per cent of voters, close to a majority, are upset with the BJP government and want it out.

At the same time, 48.1 per cent of the voters perceived or felt that the BJP will win the elections. Could this be a reason for the C Voter ABP News projections that the BJP will win a simple majority in Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttarakhand, 43.3 per cent of voters want to change the government while 51.8 per cent feel that the BJP will retain power. This could be an interesting area of research for social scientists.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) If you are a political scientist expecting any surprises or the sudden emergence of a dark horse on voters' preference for becoming chief minister of their state, they will be disappointed. This was revealed in the final results of the CVoter ABP News opinion poll released on the evening of February 7. The choices reflect what political commentators and pundits have been saying for a while.

In Punjab, it has not been very long since Bhagwant Mann was projected as the chief ministerial candidate by the Aam Aadmi Party. The Congress announced Charanjit Singh Channi as the CM face just recently.

Bhagwant Mann leads the pack with 35.7 per cent of the votes while Channi comes a distant second with 25.9 per cent of the voters. The other contenders are too far behind to be in contention.

In Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, the former chief minister leads the race and gets 39.4 per cent of the votes as the preferred CM. Current BJP chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami gets 35.5 per cent of the votes, a big jump from the 28.6 per cent he got in January this year.

In Goa, current BJP chief minister Pramod Sawant leads the pack with 30.4 per cent of the votes. He is far ahead of AAP CM candidate Amit Patekar who gets 19.5 per cent. Digambar Kamat of the Congress gets 7.8 per cent. The much hyped entry of TMC has made no impact with its candidate Luizinho Falerio getting 2.7 per cent of the votes.

In the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, current BJP chief minister Yogi Adityanath is far ahead with 43.6 per cent of the votes. In contrast, his main rival for the post of CM Akhilesh Yadav gets 33.7 per cent of the votes. The others are too far behind to matter.

Interestingly, except in Uttarakhand where the fight is neck and neck, the parties whose candidates are the most preferred choice for CM are projected to win the largest number of seats in their states.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Dramatic and often drastic changes in vote shares seem to be having a significant impact on the latest round of Assembly elections that commence on February 10.

This was revealed by the final results of the opinion poll conducted by CVoter-ABP News released on Monday evening.

While this seems to have made a decisive impact in Punjab, it doesn't seem so in Uttar Pradesh while Uttarakhand and Goa seem headed for hung assemblies if the vote share and seat projections prove to be true on March 10 when election results are announced.

In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party's vote share is projected to rise by 16.1 per cent while that of the Congress is projected to fall by 8.5 per cent and that of the Akali Dal alliance by 5 per cent.

This perhaps explains why the AAP is now projected to touch the magic majority mark while the Congress could see a crash in the number of seats won with the Akali-led alliance further behind.

In Uttar Pradesh, the SP-led alliance vote share is projected to increase dramatically by 11.4 per cent while that of the BJP-led alliance is projected to lose vote share marginally by 0.2 per cent. But since the BJP still leads by 6.2 per cent in vote share, it is projected to win a simple majority.

In Uttarakhand, the BJP vote share has fallen by 3.9 per cent while that of Congress has improved by 7.1 per cent. Yet, at 42.6 per cent, the BJP is 2 per cent ahead of the Congress.

No wonder, the result is too close to call. Finally in Goa, the AAP is seeing a dramatic 17.7 per cent upswing in vote share to 24 per cent, slightly more than the Congress. The BJP is set to lose 2.5 per cent vote share to 30 per cent this time. This clearly points towards a fractured mandate, with the Congress being the big loser in this round.

All this if the results to be announced on March 10 match the CVoter-ABP News projections

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) If the predictions and projections hold true, Uttarakhand promises to be literally a neck and neck fight.

This was revealed when final seat projections were announced by the CVoter-ABP News opinion poll released on Monday evening.

It will be an agonising wait for both the Congress and the BJP. When the BJP changed three Chief Ministers in a span of six months in 2021, it looked like a cakewalk for the Congress, with former Chief Minister Harish Rawat still being projected as the most preferred Chief Minister. Going by the poll results, it will not be that easy.

The BJP is reminded of bitter memories of 2012 when its sitting government won just one seat less than the Congress and lost power. Incidentally, the party had made a "last minute" Chief Ministerial change even then.

According to the final results of the poll, the Congress is projected to win between 30 to 36 seats. Incidentally, 36 is the magic majority mark in Uttarakhand.

The BJP is projected to win between 31 to 37 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party which made a determined effort to emerge as a serious contender, trails far behind with a projected range of 2 to 4 seats. It is very difficult to hazard even a guess when such a tight finish is being projected, just as it was in 2012 when the Congress finally pipped the BJP to the post.

If it does, the two main reasons according to analysts will be anti-incumbency against the BJP government along with the popularity of Harish Rawat. If the Congress fails, one big reason could be the AAP cutting into the anti-BJP vote share.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Despite the hype created around the party in the 2017 Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party had fallen way behind the Congress when results were announced. It looks all set to turn the tables in the current elections.

According to a CVoter-ABP News opinion poll released on Monday evening, the AAP is set to win Punjab with a wafer-thin majority while the Congress appears to be way behind, with the Akali Dalled alliance and the BJP-led alliance in collaboration with former Congress chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh trail behind the two leading contenders.

According to the final results of the poll, the AAP is projected to win between a range of 55 to 63 seats - the upper end of the range ensuring a majority for the party for the first time.

The Congress which recently announced the state's first Dalit Chief Minister as their CM candidate seems to be too far behind a majority with a projection of between 24 to 30 seats.

The alliance with the BSP doesn't seem to have helped the Akali Dal which ruled Punjab in alliance with the BJP between 2007 and 2017. The alliance is projected to win between 20 to 26 seats in the elections.

The BJP-led alliance is nowhere in the picture, projected to win between 3 to 11 seats.

If the findings of the opinion poll hold true when results are declared on March 10, analysts blame the intense infighting within the Congress that seems set to offer Punjab on a platter to AAP. Again, if the polls turn out to be close to actual results, Arvind Kejriwal would be on his way to a role in national politics.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) The final opinion poll results of the C-Voter ABP News were released in the evening on February 7, three days before the first round of polling in Uttar Pradesh on February 10.

According to the poll, the BJP led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to win a second successive term with a vastly reduced majority.

In Punjab, the AAP is now touching the majority mark according to the final results.

Uttarakhand seems too close to call with the BJP and the Congress literally neck and neck in the race.

According to the final tally, the BJP led alliance in UP is projected to win a majority with the number ranging from 225 to 237. The primary challenger, the SP led alliance led by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is projected to win between a range of 139 to 151 seats. The BSP led by Mayawati is fading to insignificance, projected to win between 13 to 21 seats. The Congress, despite a spirited campaign led by UP in charge and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remains a marginal player, projected to win between 4 to 8 seats.

If the projections hold true, this will be the first time since 1989 that a party has managed to successfully retain power in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh. For more than three decades, power has changed hands between the BJP, the SP and the BSP.

The BSP had won a majority in 2007 while the SP did the same in 2012. The BJP had won a massive mandate in 2017.

The poll does indicate anti-incumbency on some major issues, but not enough to prevent the BJP from retaining power. Analysts feel this victory, if it happens on March 10, will considerably enhance the stature of Yogi Adityanath in the party.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) As surmised by analysts and political commentators who follow politics in Goa, the state is once again heading for a repeat performance of 2017 with a hung assembly in the current elections.

This was revealed by the final results of the C Voter ABP News opinion poll released on the evening of February 7. The poll results also show that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is on its way to becoming a serious player in Goa politics.

According to the results of the poll, the BJP is projected to win between 14 to 18 seats, well short of the majority mark of 21 seats in the Goa assembly which has 40 seats.

Far from gaining from anti incumbency after 10 years of BJP rule, the Congress is projected to win between 12 seats, 10 to 14 seats, way behind the majority mark.

The AAP had won no seats in 2017. That's set to change. It is projected to win between 4 to 8 seats. The MGP retains its identity as a regional party, projected to win between 3 to 7 seats.

If the polls turn out to be true, there will be two major implications in national politics. The AAP would have emerged as a still small but nevertheless a party with a national footprint. It is in power in Delhi, set to win Punjab and make a mark in Uttarakhand as a party that has arrived.

A decent performance even in Goa would do wonders to the image and stature of party leader Arvind Kejriwal. The reverse would be true of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi if it fails to retain Punjab and fail to win Uttarakhand and Goa.

Source: IANS

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