Caste no more a big factor in elections: Zee News-TALEEM survey

Is Lok Sabha election 2014 going to change the way Indian voters elect their representatives? It seems certainly so. Quite contrary to popular perception, caste or religion might not play the key role in the minds of voters this time, says a pre-poll survey conducted byTALEEM Research Foundation for Zee News. Only 2.3 percent of those surveyed say that caste or religious would be factor for voting. Nearly 67 percent of the voters have said their choice for Member of Parliament would depend on the quality of the candidate. This will be major shift in the voters’ behaviour. In states like UP and Bihar, caste arithmetic have so far mattered enormously deciding the final outcome. In last few weeks, we have seen shifting caste loyalties like Paswan community leader Ram Vilas Paswan joining NDA. Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati have their own fixed caste based support. In UP, Mulayam Singh has so far been banking on the Yadav-Muslim alliance which is expected to break in the aftermath of the Muzaffarnagar riots. 

Another interesting find of the survey has been the influence of the parties. Only 22.7 of those surveyed believe that the party of the candidate matters. This is important in the context of the nearly presidential style of campaigning unleashed by both Narendra Modi-led BJP and Rahul Gandhi-led Congress.