‘A Strong CM Candidate Could Have Swung Gujarat In Congress’ Favour’
The Congress has seen a steady improvement in its prospects between August and November, show CSDS surveys.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are neck-to-neck in the upcoming Gujarat assembly election but a strong chief ministerial candidate would have swung the election in Congress’ favour.
That’s the word from research institute Centre for the Study of Developing Societies which has been conducting surveys among Gujarat voters over the last three months to gauge their sentiment.
The Congress, in fact, has seen a steady improvement in its prospects between August and November, the three surveys conducted by CSDS showed. The two parties had a 30-point difference in vote share in August, the BJP’s lead dropped to 6 points in October and the vanished in the last round of survey in November with a 43 percent vote share for each party.
The gains for the Congress could have been more significant had the party projected a strong chief ministerial candidate, said Sanjay Kumar, director at CSDS.
If Congress has a formidable candidate projected as chief minister, this election could be swung in its favour in a big way. But the difficulty with the Congress is they don’t have a formidable face to project.Sanjay Kumar, Director, CSDS
The Congress’ campaign has been led by Rahul Gandhi who recently filed his nomination papers for the post of party president. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the star campaigner for the BJP.
Favoured Chief Ministerial Candidates
The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, the incumbent Vijay Rupani has seen a dip in popularity as per the CSDS survey.
Eighteen percent of the respondents in the CSDS survey said they preferred Rupani. That’s more than any other candidate but, according to Kumar, it’s low for a sitting chief minister.
If we look at chief ministers of other states like Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, surveys in those states before elections have shown a rating of 70-75 percent. Compared to other popular state leaders, Rupani’s popularity is very low.Sanjay Kumar, Director, CSDS
At a recent campaign rally, Modi had pitched the Gujarat election as a battle between development and dynasty. But the CSDS tracker shows economic issues are what voters care about the most. “Economic issues in the form of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax, unemployment and price rise” are what voters care about the most, Kumar said.