UPA Govt will win the vote of confidence: Opinion poll

New Delhi, Jul 19 (UNI) A nationwide opinion poll conducted across 20 cities has found that people expect the UPA government will sail through the vote of confidence coming up in the Lok Sabha on July 22.

A total of 4,625 respondents were covered in the poll conducted by the Star News-Nielsen.

However, a majority of the people felt that the BJP will come to power and wanted to see Lal Krishna Advani as the Prime Minister if elections are held.

The respondents were asked nine questions which ranged from the nuclear deal to the major issues being faced by the country and the possibility of a general election in the coming months.

While 43 per cent felt that the Government was doing the right thing and the nuclear deal was in the interest of the nation,40 per cent thought that the US was dictating terms. The rest 17 per cent did not comment.

Advani emerged as the most favoured Prime Ministerial candidate in event of general elections being held, polling 29 per cent votes from among those surveyed, followed by Dr Manmohan Singh with 19 per cent votes. Sonia Gandhi trailed in third position, polling 13 per cent support, with son Rahul Gandhi close at 11 per cent support from those surveyed.

Mayawati's Prime Ministerial aspirations got a low public support with only five per cent of those surveyed supporting her, though Narendra Modi was ahead of her with nine percent votes.

Prakash Karat and Laloo Prasad two percent each, and Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Pawar with one each, were others who garnered some support among those surveyed.

Meanwhile, a 50 per cent of those surveyed blamed the Left for withdrawing support only for political reasons but a 33 per cent endorsed the Left stand, saying it was justified. A 17 per cent did not comment.

Most of the people agreed that Inflation is the biggest challenge India faces today, apart from unemployment and poverty.

While 45 per cent of the surveyed felt that "inflation" was an urgent challenge which the country needs to tackle, 28 percent felt unemployment was the most urgent followed by poverty at 13.

While terrorism was cited by seven per cent of those surveyed as a major challenge, only a six per cent felt that the nuclear deal was the most important and urgent challenge.

Of those surveyed, 51 per cent blamed wrong government policies for the high inflation levels faced by the country today. They feel that inflation has been surging more because of wrong government policies and not so much because of the international oil prices.

The survey has thrown up a thin margin between the Congress and BJP when it came to which party the people wanted to return to power if general elections were to be held tomorrow. While a 43 per cent of those surveyed mooted for the BJP, the Congress was not far behind with 39 per cent.

What makes this margin more volatile is that seven per cent of those surveyed could not make up their minds citing "Don't know/Can't say." The programme will be telecast tonight.

UNI MMG RP RAI2003