New Delhi, Feb 16: BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi continues to be the top choice for Prime Minister, according to an India Today Group/CVoter survey of the Indian Middle Class with 52.1 per cent preferring him. Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal came second at 15.8 per cent and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi third at 11.5 per cent.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal continues to be the favourite for PM from the non-UPA, non-NDA lot with 25.7 per cent support. Mayawati, surprisingly, came in second with 8.2 per cent and Mulayam Singh Yadav third at 5 per cent.
The middle class, however, thought Rahul Gandhi was the best bet in the Congress for PM. Rahul got 41.1 per cent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got 13.3 per cent. While they may crib about the Gandhi dynasty monopoly in the Congress, 51.8 per cent of the middle class was sure the party cannot do without the family.
Though Manmohan Singh got a measly 2.2 per cent for top choice for PM, almost 61 per cent of respondents said Singh is an honest person despite the coal scam besmirching the economist-PM's image.
But there was no respite for the UPA 2 which continued to be slammed by the middle class for price rise and corruption. The respondents said price rise at 37 per cent and corruption at 36.6 per cent were the hallmarks of the government that has ruled since 2009. The UPA's mismanagement of the economy was also noted to be the second biggest reason for the slowing down of the India growth story at 25.1 per cent, corruption was the first reason at 34.3 per cent.
While 58.2 per cent of the middle class said it was 'not at all satisfied' with Manmohan Singh, 52.5 per cent said it was very much satisfied with Modi. Even Rahul Gandhi got a dismal rating with 47.3 per cent saying they were not at all satisfied.
Corruption was the most troubling issue for the middle class. Among those polled, 40.4 per cent said bribes affected them the most, followed by rising prices at 18 per cent and unemployment at 11.7 per cent. The survey found the middle class least interested in hostility between India and its neighbours and Naxalism, which was said to be India's biggest internal security threat by PM Manmohan Singh a few years ago.
But Naxals were the third biggest threat to India at 21.4 per cent after cross-border terror (34.3 per cent) and religious fundamentalism (26.8 per cent).
With 50 per cent of the respondents saying AAP will replicate their Delhi success in the Lok Sabha, the middle class is divided since an equal number say it can't.
The India Today/CVoter survey was conducted between January 3 and 30 across all states interviewing 17,463 randomly selected middle income group respondents across all demographics. The respondents were divided into lower middle class, middle and upper.
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