Amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens across the country, a ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey conducted by India Today Group-Karvy Insights has revealed that 41 percent of the respondents are of the view that CAA will help persecuted minorities from neighbouring nations, with 26 percent saying it is discriminatory and 33 percent not expressing a definite opinion.
On NRC, a significant 49 percent of the respondents called its potential implementation a “good step for Indian democracy”.
On the flipside, over 50 percent agreed that the insecurity among minorities over CAA and NRC is justified, while 42 percent pointed out that the wave of youth-led agitations has resulted in the “BJP losing the connect it had with the youth”.
BJP’s Electoral Fortunes
On the electoral front, the survey – conducted in December 2019 – predicted that BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would be able to get 303 seats in the Lok Sabha if elections were held today, 50 less than what it managed to win in last year’s polls.
The BJP would suffer a loss of as many as 32 seats alone, from 303 to 271, if elections are held today.
Economic Issues on Everyone’s Mind
Economic issues seem to be the biggest worry for the people, the survey pointed out, with 32 percent respondents voting for unemployment as a major worry, 15 percent for farmers’ distress, 14 percent for price rise and 10 percent for economy in general.
Sixty-two percent respondents also cited rising food prices as an indicator of the economy being in bad shape, while 32 percent pointed out that economic growth is at a pace slower when compared to the past.
On J&K and Article 370
Interviewed over four months after Article 370 was effectively abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was placed under lockdown, 58 percent of the respondents said the move to take away its special status would “lead to a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue”.
At the same time, exactly half the respondents also opined that the bifurcation of the state into two Union territories “violates the federal character of the Indian Constitution”.
Yogi Adityanath, the Best-Performing CM
Eighteen percent of those surveyed called Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as the “best performing CM in India”, followed by Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee at second.
Adityanath’s UP has recently been at the centre of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with allegations of police brutality and excesses when violence erupted in several parts of the state.
The ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey was held from 21 to 31 December 2019, with a sample size of 12,141 spread across 19 states.
(With inputs from India Today.)
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