41 per cent voters influenced by gifts, says survey

Better employment opportunities, good healthcare centres, drinking water, proper motorable roads and better public transport connectivity top the priority list of, according to the survey.

The survey, one of the largest exercises of its kind, further revealed that the government’s performance score on the top 10 voters’ priorities is below average. This evidently indicates that the voters are not happy with the incumbent government.

The three main objectives of this survey were to identify voters’ priorities on specific governance issues, voters’ ratings of the government’s performance on those issues, and factors affecting the voting behaviour.

The survey highlights the voters’ priorities on 31 listed issues like drinking water, electricity, roads, food, education, healthcare, public transport etc., in their respective regions in terms of its capacity, governance and specific role in improving their living conditions. As per All India Survey, better employment opportunities (46.80%), better health Care (34.60%) and drinking water (30.50%) are the top three voters’ priorities at the all India level, followed by Better Roads (28.34%) and better public transport (27.35%) at the fourth and the fifth place, respectively.

A total of 75.11% voters said that the chief minister candidate was the most important factor before they decide to vote for a candidate, followed by candidate’s party (71.32%) and lastly the candidate (68.03%) himself or herself.

Distribution of cash, liquor, gifts etc., were important factors in an election for 41.34% voters

As far as voting for candidates with criminal antecedents is concerned, 36.67% felt that such candidates get votes merely because the electorate might not be aware of his/her criminal records. The good work done by candidates overshadow their criminal activities and help them win votes, opined 35.89% voters.

Although, 97.86% voters felt that candidates with criminal background should not be in Parliament or State Assembly, only 35.20% voters knew that they could get information on criminal records of the candidates.

This is the third all India survey of voters with over 2.7 lakh respondents in nearly all the constituencies of the Lok Sabha.