Karnataka election: 61 per cent Lingayats say they would back BJP

The Lingayat card recommended by the Congress government in Karnataka is unlikely to work for the party in the Karnataka assembly elections says a new pre-poll survey by Lokniti-CSDS-ABP. The poll predicts a hung house, but says that the Congress would emerge as the single largest party.

The Congress is ahead of the BJP and is likely to win 92-102 seats in the 224 seat Assembly though it will be still short of the half way mark by a few seats.

The survey says that a factor that would help the Congress is the split in the anti-Congress vote between the BJP and JD(S). The Kuruba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs to is with the Congress, the survey says. The survey also says that the Dalit, tribal and minority votes are also with the Congress.

The BJP is set to win 79-89 seats while the JD(S) will be a distant third with 34-42 seats, the survey further points out.

In terms of percentage the survey says that the Congress would bag 38 per cent of the votes while the BJP would end up with 33 and JD(S), 22.

The poll survey shows that the Lingayat issue has failed miserably for the Congress. 61 per cent of the Lingayats are likely to vote for the BJP despite the Congress government recommending religious minority status.

Among the farmers the Congress remains a favourite according to the survey. Despite Karnataka witnessing a large number of farmer suicides, they are still backing Siddaramaiah, the survey says. 40 per cent of the farmers would opt for the Congress while 31 per cent are backing the BJP.

Siddaramaiah with 33 per cent of the votes remains the top choice for the post of chief minister. B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP comes a close second with 27 while H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) got 22 per cent of the votes.

The respondents say that they seem to be satisfied with the performance of the Siddaramaiah government. 29 per cent said that they are fully satisfied while 43 per cent said that they were somewhat satisfied. The major concern for the voter is development with 29 per cent of respondents highlighting the issue as their topmost concern.