Narendra Modi set for hat-trick?

Soon after LensOnNews survey, published in DNA on October 5, predicted a landslide win for the CM Narendra Modi, another survey has said that Modi is likely to win his third successive term with a two-third majority.

According to a pre-poll survey conducted by India Today and ORG across 36 assembly constituencies, BJP is likely to win 128 seats, followed by Congress at 48 and others at six seats.

That is not all. When asked about who among Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was their first choice as the next PM, more than half of the Gujaratis (56%) voted for the Hindutva icon. While the Gandhi family scion polled 35% votes, the Bihar CM and a strong critic of Modi could manage just 2% votes.

About 60% of those surveyed maintained that Gujarat’s prospects would brighten if Modi becomes prime minister in contrast to 25% who were afraid that it would suffer.

Development emerged as the most important issue in the coming elections, as 37% of the sampled voters mentioned it, followed by price rise (28%) and corruption (18%). About 32% of the sampled voters said that Modi's clean image was his greatest strength.

On the question of 2002 Gujarat riots, 58% of the voters held Modi not responsible for it as against 28% people who perceived him as guilty. According to the survey, Modi was still facing a strong opposition from Muslim voters as 61% of them did not intend to vote for him. But 54% of Muslim voters believed that Modi has been fair to their community in opposition to 26% who maintained he was not.