A survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS has predicted that the ruling Congress Party in Karnataka is likely to emerge victorious during the upcoming Assembly polls to be held in April-May and retain power.

BJP's efforts to unseat the Siddaramaiah-led Congress Govt. may not succeed, the survey results have clearly pointed out.  BJP is predicted to retain its position again as the main opposition party while the Janata Dal (Secular), led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, is to occupy the third slot at the hustings.

The survey was conducted by Lokniti-CSDS based on four important aspects/features including the performance of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress Government.  Following are the gist of the survey results:

•    Congress may get 49% votes while the BJP and Janata Dal (S) may end up getting 27% and 20% of the votes to be polled;

•    Congress doesn’t have much support in Bangalore where 55% of the residents have expressed their opposition to the manner in which the Govt. has performed; only 11% have expressed their approval of the Govt.’s performance;

•    Congress, however, finds huge support in other cities and small towns and has considerable support base among the MBCs, SC/STs and other backward communities.  Its support base in South, Central and coastal Karnataka remain intact;

•    People in cities and towns have expressed their preferences thus when asked whether they are satisfied about the Govt.’s performance: 9% are fully satisfied; 59% are satisfied and 19% are utterly dissatisfied.  In Villages, the Govt. has fared less with 11% falling under the ‘fully satisfied’ category, 44$ in the ‘satisfactory’ category and 4% in the dissatisfied category; and

•    Among the backward classes, 14% say they are fully satisfied with the Govt.’s functioning/performance while 49% are satisfied and 6% are dissatisfied.