Karnataka election 2023: Unemployment, Poverty are major issues, finds survey

Unemployment is the most significant electoral issue for voters in Karnataka, particularly among the youth of the state, according to a pre-poll survey conducted by NDTV and Lokniti-CSDS. Poverty is a close second, followed by a lack of development, price rise, education, and corruption.

The pre-poll survey was conducted during April 20-28 among a total of 2,143 voters registered in 82 polling booths across randomly-selected 21 assembly segments, according to NDTV.

The survey finds that 28 per cent respondents cited unemployment as the most important issue, while 25 per cent chose poverty, and 7 per cent each mentioned the lack of development, price rise, and education. While only 6 per cent of the respondents considered corruption as a primary concern.

However, to the pointed question of whether corruption has increased in the last five years, more than half of the voters said that corruption has increased in the past five years when the BJP has been in power.

This holds great importance as the Congress party has centered its campaign on the purported corruption during the BJP's governance of Karnataka over the past five years. The Congress has accused the BJP state government of receiving commissions and engaging in bribery, taking digs at them with their '40 per cent' taunts, alluding to allegations that the BJP demands a 40 per cent commission in contracts and other matters.

On inflation, 67 per cent of the respondents stated that prices have gone up, while 23 per cent said prices have remained the same, and 9 per cent believed prices have gone down, NDTV reports.

Notably, younger voters identified unemployment as a bigger problem, while poverty was a more significant issue for those in rural areas.

The results are part of NDTV's new initiative "Public Opinion," which aims to measure public sentiment on significant issues.

Karnataka votes on May 10, and the results will be declared on May 13.