Tamil Nadu voters rock solid behind Stalin and DMK: Survey

NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin seem to be growing in popularity in the southern state, as per an IANS-CVoter survey.

Of the five governments that assumed office after the Assembly elections in 2021, the Tamil Nadu government is the most popular.

This was revealed during an exclusive survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS in the four states -- Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where Assembly elections were held in 2021.

The DMK led by M.K. Stalin swept the Tamil Nadu polls in 2021 after remaining in opposition for 10 years during which DMK stalwart and Stalin's father M. Karunanidhi had passed away.

According to the survey, more than 30 per cent of the respondents were very satisfied with the performance of the state government, while almost 51 per cent were somewhat satisfied. So, in effect, 81 per cent of those surveyed expressed satisfaction with the performance of the state government.

In sharp contrast, less than 17 per cent of the respondents said they were not satisfied at all with the performance of the state government.

Similarly, during the survey, Stalin scored high in approval ratings for his performance as the head of the state government.

As per survey data, while 41 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with Stalin's performance as Chief Minister, 44 per cent said they were satisfied to some extent. Thus, in effect, 85 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with Stalin's performance, while only 13 of those interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with Chief Minister's performance.

The survey also revealed that a large proportion of voters -- more than 35 per cent -- were not at all satisfied with the performance of the opposition leader in the state. Only 10 per cent of those who participated in the survey said they were very much satisfied with the performance of the opposition leader and close to 42 per cent said they were somewhat satisfied.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not scored high in approval ratings in Tamil Nadu. During the survey, while more than 40 per cent of the respondents said they were not at all satisfied with the Prime Minister's performance, only 17 per cent said they were very much satisfied with his work. Another set of 40 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction to some extent.

Tamil Nadu is another state where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has scored higher in approval ratings than Narendra Modi to occupy the post of Prime Minister in the future.

When asked about the more suitable candidate between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi to hold the post of Prime Minister in the future, while 54 per cent of the respondents in Tamil Nadu spoke in favour of the Gandhi scion, 32 per cent replied in favour of the incumbent PM.

The MPs and the MLAs in the state did not seem to fare very well. According to the survey, just about 19 per cent of the respondents said they were very much satisfied with the performance of their MP, while close to 34 per cent said they were not satisfied at all.

The MLAs fared a little better with about 31 per cent of the respondents saying they were not satisfied at all with the performance of their local MLA, while about 25 per cent of the respondents said they were very much satisfied.

The survey revealed that rising prices and unemployment are the top issues of concern for the populace of the state. As per survey data, close to 36 per cent of the respondents said that spiralling prices is their main problem, while almost 12 per cent said that joblessness in the state is their main worry.

During the survey, a large number of respondents in the southern state sounded optimistic about the future. While more than 45 per cent of the respondents expressed confidence about their living standards improving in the next one year, only 13 per cent said they will deteriorate.

More than 12 per cent of those interviewed during the survey said that things will remain the same over the next one year.